Real Madrid vs Manchester City predictions and betting tips – Opportunity knocks for Guardiola

Real Madrid have gone off the boil in La Liga, increasing the pressure on Xabi Alonso. A 2-0 home defeat by Celta Vigo on Sunday led to fresh questions being asked of the Madrid boss.

Manchester City will look to take advantage of the Blancos’ woes when they head to the Spanish capital on Wednesday. Who wins this clash of the titans?

• Manchester City win – 13/8 with Sky Bet
• Over 3.5 goals – 6/5 with 247Bet
• Erling Haaland to score any time – 10/11 with Midnite

Real Madrid vs Manchester City odds

Find the latest Real Madrid vs Manchester City betting odds here. All odds are provided by our recommended football bookmakers and are subject to change.

Stay in play between matches with Betway’s casino!

Real Madrid vs Manchester City predictions

Real Madrid are not in a great place right now.

The season started so well under Xabi Alonso, who was appointed as Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement ahead of the Club World Cup.

The former Madrid midfielder guided the Blancos to 10 wins in his first 11 La Liga games at the helm. That sequence included a 2-1 victory over Barcelona in October which moved Madrid five points clear of their arch-rivals at the top of the table.

Things have gone downhill since then. Madrid have won only one of their last five league matches. Three of those were draws, but Alonso’s men suffered a 2-0 home defeat by Celta Vigo on Sunday. It was the nadir of their campaign, at least for now.

All of a sudden, Barcelona are four points clear at the summit of the standings. That is quite the turnaround in a few short weeks. As you would expect given the perennially high expectations at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Alonso is now under pressure.

“We are all angry, it was not the match we wanted, nor the result,” the manager said after the defeat. “The match we wanted has not come out; we must turn the page as soon as possible. 

“It’s only three points, there’s a lot of league left. On Wednesday, we have the Champions League to react and remove this bad taste from our mouths.”

Alonso, who won this tournament with Madrid as a player, knows better than most how important the Champions League is to the Spanish giants.

A failure to win the La Liga title would be tolerated if Madrid were to be crowned kings of the continent for a 16th time this term.

The Blancos have won four games out of five in the league phase, putting them on course for a top-eight finish. But they will be tested by Manchester City on Wednesday night.

Madrid have a good record against Pep Guardiola’s team. They eliminated City in 2021/22, 2023/24 and 2024/25, although City were victorious when this pair met in 2022/23.

Guardiola’s men suffered a shock home loss to Bayer Leverkusen last time out in Europe, although that came after the City boss heavily rotated his team.

We should see a close to full-strength City side take to the field this week, as Guardiola attempts to win at the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City betting tips

Real Madrid and Manchester City will hopefully serve up another Champions League classic on Wednesday.

City can seize chance

Real Madrid have failed to win five of their last seven games in all competitions. 

One of their two victories in that time came in the Champions League, although their 4-3 triumph over Olympiacos was not wholly convincing.

Rumours of discord between Alonso and certain figures in the dressing room are rife, and with some key defenders absent through injury, this is hardly an ideal time to be facing Manchester City.

This City side does not look quite as imperious as previous iterations, but they look to have found their rhythm in recent weeks.

Given Madrid’s struggles, it is worth a punt on the visitors to Spain collecting all three points on matchday six.

Go for a Manchester City win at 13/8 with Sky Bet

Madrid fight fire with fire?

Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Dani Carvajal and Dean Huijsen are all sidelined for Real Madrid, who will have to pick up a patched-up defence for the clash with Real Madrid.

Alonso does at least have his first-choice attack available, so we are likely to see Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe all in the starting line-up here.

With that lopsidedness, Alonso may conclude that his team’s best chance of victory is to go on the attack and hope Madrid can outscore City.

The latter’s backline can certainly be got at without Rodri providing the protection in front, so we should see plenty of action in both penalty boxes.

Tip over 3.5 goals at 6/5 with 247Bet

Haaland will get chances

Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland will come face to face at the World Cup after France and Norway were drawn in the same group on Friday.

The pair will also be competing on the same pitch this week. Both forwards have enjoyed exceptional starts to the season, but Mbappe has outscored Haaland 9-5 in this tournament.

The Frenchman is the favourite in the anytime scorer market for this match, but given Madrid’s defensive absentees, the smart money is on Haaland.

At odds close to evens, this one feels like a no-brainer.

Choose Erling Haaland to score any time at 10/11 with Midnite

Real Madrid vs Manchester City predicted lineups

• Real Madrid expected lineup: Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras; Tchouameni, Camavinga; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr; Mbappe.
• Manchester City expected lineup: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez; Cherki, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland.

Where to watch Real Madrid vs Manchester City

• Location: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain.
• Date and time: Wednesday 10th December, 8pm.
• How to watch: TNT Sports 1.

More Champions League predictions

We have plenty more Champions League predictions and picks – find our latest betting tips from expert punters in our match preview overview.

About the author

Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football writer from London. He predominantly covers the Premier League and has had work published by the Guardian, FourFourTwo, ESPN and others.

Follow Greg on X: @GregLeaFootball

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to talkSPORT. 18+. T&Cs apply. GambleAware.org

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chase their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• GambleAware – www.gambleaware.org

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.