LaLiga 2024/25 matchday 28 predicted lineups

LaLiga pauses for the international break after two huge games that will have a big impact on the destiny of the title race. Real Madrid travel to the Ceramica to take on Villarreal on Saturday, before the big showdown between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday night. Here are our LaLiga predicted lineups for matchday 28.

LaLiga predicted lineups – Matchday 28

Friday 14th March 2025

21:00 – Las Palmas vs Alaves

A poor start to 2025 for Las Palmas continued with defeat at Betis last time out. Dario Essugo saw red in that game, while Viti Rozada picked up his fifth booking, meaning both are suspended here. They do at least have Alberto Moleiro available again, so there’s likely to be at least three changes from Diego Martinez for this match.

Las Palmas predicted lineup: Cillessen – A. Muñoz, Marmol, McKenna, A. Suarez – Campaña, J. Muñoz, Bajcetic – Moleiro, F. Silva, S. Ramirez (4-3-3)

Alaves picked up a vital victory over Villarreal last time out, but it came at a cost, with three players suspended for this match as a result of disciplinary issues last weekend. Antonio Sivera is one of those players, with 24-year-old Adrian Rodriguez set to start in goal in this match. Ander Guevara may take the place of the suspended Antonio Blanco in midfield, but Chacho Coudet is likely to limit the changes aside from that if possible. It’s unclear whether key striker Kike Garcia will be fit enough to start following fitness problems this week though.

Alaves predicted lineup: Adrian – M. Sanchez, Mouriño, Abqar, Tenaglia – Guevara – Aleña, Jordan, Cabanes – Martin, Kike Garcia (4-1-3-2)

Saturday 15th March 2025

14:00 – Real Valladolid vs Celta Vigo

Real Valladolid are 11 points from safety after losing 2-1 at Valencia last weekend. It was a slightly better performance than some of their recent away games, although that’s certainly not saying very much. Their goalscorer at Mestalla was Juanmi Latasa, but he’s suspended this Saturday, with Mamadou Sylla or Selim Amallah likely to take his place. Centre-back Joseph Aidoo remains an injury doubt.

Real Valladolid predicted lineup: Hein – Aznou, Torres, J. Sanchez, L. Perez – Moro, Nikitscher, Grillitsch, I. Sanchez – Amallah, M. Andre (4-4-2)

Iago Aspas returned to the starting XI as Celta Vigo saw off Leganes last weekend. Up against struggling opposition once more on Saturday, he may continue, although Claudio Giraldez’s attacking and midfield picks remain almost impossible to predict, with numerous changes virtually every weekend. The visitors should be at full strength in terms of availability, with the exception of Williot Swedberg and Hugo Alvarez, although the latter may be fit enough to make the bench.

Celta Vigo predicted lineup: Guaita – Alonso, Starfelt, Jailson – Mingueza, Sotelo, Beltran, Carreira – Alfon, Aspas – Duran (3-4-2-1)

16:15 – Mallorca vs Espanyol

Mallorca have drawn four of their last five matches, including a 1-1 in Bilbao last weekend. They played three central defenders in that game, but Jose Manuel Copete picked up a fifth yellow card of the season, and it’s likely that we’ll see Jagoba Arrasate return to a back four here in any case. That may see Dani Rodriguez come into the side, in what could be the only change.

Mallorca predicted lineup: Greif – Mojica, Raillo, Valjent, Maffeo – S. Costa, Mascarell – D. Rodriguez, Darder, Asano – Muriqi (4-2-3-1)

Espanyol conceded a late penalty to only draw their home game against Girona last time out, but they’re in good form overall and Manolo Gonzalez has got a pretty settled XI right now. There will be at least one change here though, due to Pol Lozano’s suspension. Alvaro Tejero and Edu Exposito are the main options to replace him.

Espanyol predicted lineup: J. Garcia – Romero, Cabrera, Kumbulla, El Hilali – Gonzalez de Zarate, Tejero, Kral – Puado, R. Fernandez, Jofre (4-3-3)

18:30 – Villarreal vs Real Madrid

Villarreal slipped to a 1-0 defeat against the nine men of Alaves last time out, an unexpected setback given they’d taken 14 points from their previous six matches. Marcelino has quite a settled back four currently, and no fresh selection issues. He may consider bringing Thierno Barry and Santi Comesaña into the side for this game, should he decide to make changes.

Villarreal predicted lineup: Conde – Cardona, Costa, Kambwala, Foyth – Baena, Gueye, Comesaña, Pino – Ayoze, Barry (4-4-2)

It’s a very quick turnaround for Real Madrid, after they battled on for 120 minutes and ultimately edged out Atletico on penalties in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Ferland Mendy’s injury means there’s guaranteed to be at least one change to that XI, but it could be many more than that, with Carlo Ancelotti likely to opt for fresh legs in several positions. Eduardo Camavinga, Lucas Vazquez, Fran Garcia and David Alaba could all come in. Brahim Diaz and Arda Guler are also strong options, should he decide changes are needed further up the pitch.

Real Madrid predicted lineup: Courtois – F. Garcia, Alaba, Rudiger, L. Vazquez – Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Rodrygo – Vinicius, Mbappe (4-4-2)

21:00 – Girona vs Valencia

Girona are likely to be missing Abel Ruiz again, while Bryan Gil is also dealing with a minor issue, but could still start. They played quite well at the RCDE Stadium on Monday and were good value for at least a point, so Michel is unlikely to make any major changes here.

Girona predicted lineup: Gazzaniga – M. Gutierrez, Blind, Krejci, A. Martinez – Herrera, Arthur, I. Martin – Gil, Miovski, Tsygankov (4-3-3)

Hugo Duro misses out again for Valencia this weekend, but that’s not such a problem given the good form of Umar Sadiq. There are no fresh selection issues for Carlos Corberan, so he has the luxury of naming an unchanged XI should he wish, following a victory last time out that finally lifted his side out of the relegation zone.

Valencia predicted lineup: Mamardashvili – Gaya, Tarrega, Mosquera, Foulquier – Guerra, Barrenechea – D. Lopez, Almeida, Rioja – Sadiq (4-2-3-1)

Sunday 16th March 2025

14:00 – Leganes vs Real Betis

There are no new selection problems for Leganes, so it’s just down to Borja Jimenez and whether he thinks any changes are necessary here, following a 2-1 defeat in Vigo last time out. It’s likely we will see some alterations, with Dani Raba a surprising exclusion in that game. Jorge Saenz is also pushing for a recall in defence.

Leganes predicted lineup: Dmitrovic – Cruz, Saenz, Nastasic, Sergio, Rosier – Cisse, Tapia, Neyou – D. Garcia, Raba (5-3-2)

Betis are one of the form teams in Spain right now, and they were big winners in Portugal in the Conference League on Thursday. They’ve got very little recovery time ahead of this Sunday lunch-time game in Madrid, but key players such as Isco and Antony should start again. Manuel Pellegrini is likely to rotate in some areas though, with Cucho Hernandez, Natan, Romain Perraud and Adrian among those who should come back into the starting XI.

Real Betis predicted lineup: Adrian – Perraud, Natan, Llorente, Sabaly – Altimira, Fornals – J. Rodriguez, Isco, Antony – C. Hernandez (4-2-3-1)

16:15 – Sevilla vs Athletic Club

Ruben Vargas is still an injury concern for Sevilla, and there’s no guarantee he’d return to the side even if passed fit, given his replacement Chidera Ejuke scored the only goal in the 1-0 win at Real Sociedad last time out. Juanlu also dropped to the bench for that game, and he’s not guaranteed to regain his place here, with an unchanged XI possible from Garcia Pimienta.

Sevilla predicted lineup: Nyland – Pedrosa, Salas, Bade, Carmona – Agoume, Sow, Saul – Ejuke, Romero, Lukebakio (4-3-3)

Athletic came from behind to see off Roma in their Europa League tie on Thursday night, so they should head to Seville in good spirits. They’ve only won one out of nine this season in LaLiga immediately after European fixtures though, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to get a good result here. Ernesto Valverde is likely to freshen things up with some changes, but he still has injury doubts over key men Oihan Sancet and Dani Vivian.

Athletic Club predicted lineup: Simon – Boiro, Paredes, Yeray, Gorosabel – Prados, Ruiz de Galarreta – N. Williams, Berenguer, I. Williams – Sannadi (4-2-3-1)

18:30 – Osasuna vs Getafe

The only selection doubt for Osasuna heading into this game is Aimar Oroz. The midfielder should start if passed fit, having netted twice in their most recent game against Valencia a fortnight ago. If not, Moi Gomez is likely to get the nod in midfield. It’s also unclear whether Abel Bretones or Juan Cruz will get the start at left-back, but Vicente Moreno rarely springs many surprises with his team selections aside from that.

Osasuna predicted lineup: Herrera – Bretones, Boyomo, Catena, Areso – Torro, Moncayola, M.Gomez – Zaragoza, Budimir, Ruben Garcia (4-3-3)

Getafe picked up a long overdue win against local rivals Atletico Madrid last time out, with Mauro Arambarri scoring two very late goals to seal a 2-1 victory. They have no significant selection issues here. An unchanged XI is possible, although Borja Mayoral, Juan Bernat and Juan Iglesias are all strong contenders to come in.

Getafe predicted lineup: Soria – Rico, Duarte, Alderete, Djene – Bernat, Arambarri, Milla, Terrats – Uche – Mayoral (4-4-1-1)

18:30 – Rayo Vallecano vs Real Sociedad

Despite some considerable selection issues, Rayo had more shots and more possession than Real Madrid in their 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu last weekend. Iñigo Perez can at least recall Jorge De Frutos to the starting XI this weekend following suspension to bolster their attack, while Adri Embarba may be used as an emergency striker.

Rayo Vallecano predicted lineup: Batalla – Chavarria, A. Hernandez, Lejeune, Ratiu – Ciss, Diaz – A. Garcia, U. Lopez, De Frutos – Embarba (4-2-3-1)

It was miserable Thursday night in Manchester for La Real, made worse by Brais Mendez picking up an injury that will rule him out of this weekend’s league game. Imanol has been rotating from match to match during this busy period of the season, without much success, but it’s likely that policy will continue here. Jon Pacheco and Luka Sucic are carrying injuries and rated doubtful.

Real Sociedad predicted lineup: Remiro – J. Lopez, Aguerd, Zubeldia, Aramburu – Olasagasti, Zubimendi, Marin – S. Gomez, Oskarsson, Barrenetxea (4-3-3)

21:00 – Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona

Following the despair of their Champions League exit in midweek, Diego Simeone has got a really big job in terms of trying to pick his players up ahead of this crunch league game. They were also beaten in La Liga last weekend, with another strong XI named in that match at Getafe. There’ll certainly be some tired legs in the Atleti camp as a result, but it’s hard to see there being wholesale changes here given the importance of this match. Javi Galan, Robin Le Normand, Nahuel Molina and Samuel Lino are options should Simeone decide some fresher legs are needed.

Atletico Madrid predicted lineup: Oblak – Galan, Lenglet, Le Normand, Llorente – Gallagher, Barrios, De Paul, Simeone – Alvarez, Griezmann (4-4-2)

Barcelona didn’t play last weekend following the sudden passing of club doctor Carles Miñarro. They paid tribute to him with a comfortable victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday, and all things considered they should be much fresher than their opponents here. Therefore, Hansi Flick is in a position to just pick his best XI, with the only real uncertainty surrounding whether it’s Gavi or Dani Olmo who starts as the most advanced midfielder.

Barcelona predicted lineup: Szczesny – Balde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Kounde – Pedri, De Jong – Raphinha, Olmo, Yamal – Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)