LaLiga 2024/25 matchday 4 predicted lineups

Barcelona are setting the pace at the top of the Spanish top flight with the only remaining 100% record after a comeback win at Rayo in midweek. There are five games on Saturday and five on Sunday this weekend before the first international break of the season. Here are our LaLiga predicted lineups for matchday 4.

LaLiga predicted lineups – Matchday 4

Saturday 31st August 2024

17:00 – Barcelona vs Real Valladolid

It’s three wins from three for Hansi Flick and Barca were genuinely impressive in the Second Half against Rayo in midweek. Dani Olmo came on to score on his debut and is likely to make the starting eleven this weekend. The win was soured by a serious ACL injury for young midfielder Marc Bernal though, with the 17-year-old likely to be out until April 2025 at the earliest. Marc Casado and Fermin Lopez are options to replace him on Saturday while Alejandro Balde should return to the eleven for this game against Real Valladolid.

Barcelona predicted lineup: Ter Stegen – Balde, Martinez, Cubarsi, Kounde – Pedri, Casado – Raphinha, Olmo, Lamine Yamal – Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)

Paulo Pezzolano has understandably prioritised the two home games against fellow newly promoted sides so far, and we may see light changes this weekend from Real Valladolid, as was the case at the Bernabeu last Sunday. Selim Amallah could make way for Victor Meseguer in midfield while Ivan Sanchez is a strong option to rotate in out wide.

Real Valladolid predicted lineup: Hein – Rosa, Javi Sanchez, Comert, Luis Perez – Moro, Kike Perez, Juric, Meseguer, Ivan Sanchez – Sylla (4-5-1)

19:00 – Athletic Club vs Atletico Madrid

Athletic beat Atletico Madrid twice at home last season and they were dominant victories too, so Ernesto Valverde will be hoping his players can repeat the trick on Saturday. The main doubts in terms of team selection are at full-back with Yuri still an injury concern, while Andoni Gorosabel is battling it out with Oscar De Marcos at right-back. Nico Williams is fit and should start the game.

Athletic Club predicted lineup: Agirrezabala – Lekue, Yeray, Vivian, De Marcos – Prados, Vesga – Nico Williams, Sancet, Iñaki Williams – Guruzeta (4-2-3-1)

Rotation and competition for places is likely to be a recurring theme this season from Diego Simeone across the pitch. He rested a host of key players in midweek, but ended up making three changes at the break to no avail as Atleti were held to a 0-0 home draw by Espanyol. He’s expecting to have a full squad available and should go as strong as possible here, although the identity of his best eleven is very much still up for debate. Having struggled against the intensity of this opposition last term, he’s likely to pack the midfield and pick players that he thinks can match Athletic’s energy levels.

Atletico Madrid predicted lineup: Oblak – Azplicueta, Gimenez, Le Normand – Lino, De Paul, Koke, Barrios, Llorente – Griezmann, Alvarez (3-5-2)

19:15 – Espanyol vs Rayo Vallecano

Espanyol rode their luck at times, but picked up a good point at the Estadio Metropolitano last time out, to open their account for the season. This is a really big game for them, but they’ll be missing defender Leandro Cabrera who has picked up an injury. Manolo looks like he will switch between a 3-5-2 and a 4-3-3 this season and could go with either approach here.

Espanyol predicted lineup: Joan Garcia – Calero, Kumbulla, El Hilali – Romero, Kral, Gragera, Aguado, Tejero – Puado, Veliz (3-5-2)

Rayo looked really tired in the Second Half against Barca in midweek and it’s likely that Iñigo Perez will make changes for the trip to the RCDE Stadium. New signing James Rodriguez could feature but is highly unlikely to be considered ready to start. Augusto Batalla is another new signing who could eventually force his way into this eleven, with some changes in the wide and midfield positions expected here.

Rayo Vallecano predicted lineup: Cardenas – Chavarria, Mumin, Lejeune, Ratiu – Lopez, Ciss – Embarba, Isi Palazon, De Frutos – Camello (4-2-3-1)

21:30 – Leganes vs Mallorca

Newly promoted Leganes head into matchday four still unbeaten and they’ll really fancy this against a Mallorca side that has started slowly. Borja Jimenez isn’t likely to change too much given the bright beginning, meaning new signings like Renato Tapia, Roberto Lopez and Marko Dmitrovic may need to bide their time if they want to break into this eleven. We could still see one or two changes from midweek though with Oscar Rodriguez potentially returning.

Leganes predicted lineup: Soriano – Javi Hernandez, Saenz, Sergio, Rosier – Neyou, Cisse, Oscar Rodriguez – Franquesa, Miguel, Juan Cruz (4-3-3)

It’s just one goal for Mallorca so far this season and they do look a bit one-dimensional in their approach, which was also largely true last season when they played direct football with Vedat Muriqi as the big target man. Jagoba Arrasate rotated his goalkeepers in midweek giving Leo Roman the start. The 24-year-old had a cracking game, but it’s unclear whether that’ll be enough to earn him the weekend start too. In front of the keeper, the back four already feels quite settled, but light changes are expected in midfield and out wide with wingers Dani Rodriguez and Takuma Asano expected to return after being rested for the 0-0 draw with Sevilla.

Mallorca predicted lineup: Greif – Mojica, Raillo, Valjent, Maffeo – Mascarell, Samu – Dani Rodriguez, Darder, Asano – Muriqi (4-2-3-1)

21:30 – Valencia vs Villarreal

It’s derby night in the Valencian region and it’s already a big pressure game for Valencia who are the only team without a point so far. Thierry Correia should rotate back into the defence while it’s possible that Yarek Gasiorowski is also recalled. Andre Almeida and Javi Guerra could also come back in, having been left on the bench for the 1-0 defeat in Bilbao on Wednesday.

Valencia predicted lineup: Mamardashvili – Jesus Vazquez, Tarrega, Mosquera, Correia – Rioja, Pepelu, Guerra, Diego Lopez – Duro, Almeida (4-4-2)

Things are looking much brighter over at the Estadio Ceramica, at least from an attacking point of view, after the Yellow Submarine won as open a game as you’ll ever see in LaLiga, beating Celta 4-3 on Monday. The defence is still an area of concern and it might not be long before new signing Logan Costa breaks into it. He may need to bide his time for now and the same goes for new goalkeeper Luiz Junior. Alex Baena has finally been granted some holiday time after featuring in two summer international tournaments so won’t feature here. New signings Ayoze Perez, Thierno Barry and Nicolas Pepe are all in contention for starts, although there’s not likely to be room for all three.

Villarreal predicted lineup: Conde – Cardona, Bailly, Albiol, Femenia – Ayoze Perez, Parejo, Gueye, Yeremi – Danjuma, Gerard Moreno (4-4-2)

Saturday 1st September 2024

17:00 – Alaves vs Las Palmas

Alaves picked up an excellent Basque derby win at Real Sociedad in midweek, but they did benefit from playing against 10 men for most of the game. Toni Martinez came off the bench to net a debut goal and is pushing for a start here. Despite that victory, a number of players are still likely to rotate back in, including both full-backs, while Aleksandar Sedlar could return in central defence after suspension.

Alaves predicted lineup: Sivera – Manu Sanchez, Sedlar, Abqar, Tenaglia – Blanco, Guevara – Conechny, Guridi, Romero – Kike Garcia (4-2-3-1)

Las Palmas haven’t won yet, but they’ve shown enough so far to cast doubt on their status as pre-season relegation favourites. They held Real Madrid in midweek with Alberto Moleiro scoring a fine goal in a 1-1 draw. Expect some fresh legs to come in here after a big shift on Thursday, ahead of the long trip north to Vitoria. Luis Carrion won’t want to totally dismantle the side though with this game being a big one against a likely bottom half rival.

Las Palmas predicted lineup: Cillessen – Alex Muñoz, Marmol, McKenna, Suarez – Kirian, Loiodice, Javier Muñoz – Moleiro, McBurnie, Sandro (4-3-3)

17:00 – Celta Vigo vs Osasuna

Iago Aspas continues to defy age and time with the 37-year-old enjoying an excellent start to the season for Celta. He should return from the start in attack after a Monday night rest in the seven goal thriller at the Ceramica. Borja Iglesias could potentially keep his place alongside Aspas though, after ending a long LaLiga goal drought in that game. Vicente Guaita also stands a chance of replacing Ivan Villar in goal for this one, although he may need to wait until after the international break.

Celta Vigo predicted lineup: Villar – Dominguez, Starfelt, Jailson – Alvarez, Damian, Beltran, Mingueza – Swedberg, Aspas – Iglesias (3-4-2-1)

After a 4-0 thrashing at Girona on Thursday, which saw Osasuna muster up just one attempt in the whole game, changes are surely coming here from Vicente Moreno. We can expect the two full-backs to revert back to the players that started against Mallorca last weekend. The likes of Jon Moncayola and Bryan Zaragoza could also find their places come under threat, although in truth, few players came out of Montilivi looking too good so not many will feel safe of a starting place on Sunday.

Osasuna predicted lineup: Herrera – Bretones, Herrando, Catena, Areso – Torro, Ibañez – Ruben Garcia, Oroz, Moi Gomez – Budimir (4-2-3-1)

19:00 – Sevilla vs Girona

A bit like Las Palmas, Sevilla have played some good football so far without getting the rewards, and they are still chasing their first win under Garcia Pimienta after a midweek draw at Mallorca. A number of new signings made their first starts in that game, and there are certainly places up for grabs in this eleven. Pimienta is likely to make one change in defence while Saul is suspended, so we could see Juanlu and perhaps Lucien Agoume feature in midfield. Isaac Romero ought to return up top.

Sevilla predicted lineup: Nyland – Pedrosa, Salas, Bade, Carmona – Agoume, Lokonga, Juanlu – Ocampos, Romero, Lukebakio (4-3-3)

Something clicked into place for this new-look Girona side on Thursday as they hammered Osasuna 4-0 with new signings Bryan Gil and Abel Ruiz on target. While the turnaround is a quick one, Michel may want as much continuity as possible from that game, although it’s likely that Oriol Romeu will come in to beef up the midfield. Arnau Martinez could also rotate back in at right-back.

Girona predicted lineup: Gazzaniga – Miguel Gutierrez, Blind, David Lopez, Arnau Martinez – Ivan Martin, Romeu, Herrera – Gil, Ruiz, Tsygankov (4-3-3)

19:15 – Getafe vs Real Sociedad

Having started the season with holding midfielder Christantus Uche operating up front, the good news for Getafe fans is that they’ve finally signed a striker. Bertug Yıldırım has already been capped by Turkey, but the bad news is that he failed to score in 21 Ligue 1 appearances for Rennes last term, which suggests he may not be the quick fix to all their goalscoring problems. After a free midweek due to Betis being in Europe, Getafe have no need to rotate and are likely to field a similar eleven to last weekend, although Mauro Arambarri may return in midfield.

Getafe predicted lineup: Soria – Rico, Alderete, Djene, Iglesias – Abderdin, Arambarri, Milla – Sola, Uche, Perez (4-3-3)

It’s just three points from three games for Real Sociedad who have failed to take advantage of a pretty favourable set of fixtures so far. Mikel Oyarzabal’s early red card didn’t help against Alaves in midweek and he’ll miss this one as a result with Umar Sadiq the most obvious replacement. Beñat Turrientes and Sheraldo Becker could also potentially come into the eleven.

Real Sociedad predicted lineup: Remiro – Javi Lopez, Pacheco, Zubeldia, Traore – Turrientes, Zubimendi, Brais Mendez – Becker, Sadiq, Kubo (4-3-3)

21:30 – Real Madrid vs Real Betis

It’s not exactly a crisis at Real Madrid just yet, but there is concern that the balance of the team hasn’t looked quite right with Kylian Mbappe firing blanks again in the 1-1 draw at Las Palmas on Thursday night. Rodrygo and Dani Carvajal should return to the eleven this weekend, while it’s a close call between Arda Guler and Luka Modric as to who gets the third midfield slot, with Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga still out.

Real Madrid predicted lineup: Courtois – Mendy, Militao, Rudiger, Carvajal – Tchouameni, Valverde – Vinicius, Guler, Rodrygo – Mbappe (4-2-3-1)

Four of the last five meetings between these clubs at the Bernabeu have ended 0-0 with Manuel Pellegrini’s side frequently giving his old side a hard time. He’s not likely to try anything too bold here, with Betis still a bit short in the attacking department with Isco still injured while new signing Vitor Roque is short on match practice. Nabil Fekir is off to play in the UAE and while Betis are expecting arrivals on deadline day, they may not be considered for selection from the start in this game.

Real Betis predicted lineup: Silva – Perraud, Bartra, Llorente, Sabaly – Roca, Cardoso, Carvalho – Juanmi, Avila, Fornals (4-3-3)