After the best weekend of the season to date, LaLiga returns for the final matchday before the first international break. Real Madrid are hoping to maintain the division’s only remaining 100% record while Girona, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all have 7 points heading into the weekend. Here’s our full 2023/24 LaLiga matchday 4 preview.
LaLiga Matchday 4 Preview
Friday 1st September 2023
19:30 – Cadiz vs Villarreal
| Cadiz | Villarreal | |
| Win Probability | 28% | 44% |
Things kick off with the clash of the Yellow Submarines at the Nuevo Mirandilla. Cadiz were denied victory by a Stoppage Time goal last time out but played quite well against Almeria. They could give a full debut to new signing Maxi Gomez here. The Uruguayan has scored more than 50 LaLiga goals in a career he’ll be hoping to reignite in Cadiz. Villarreal meanwhile are fresh from a marginal defeat in a 7-goal thriller against Barcelona and will be favourites to make it two wins from two away games.
Possible Home Lineup: Ledesma – Javi Hernandez, Luis Hernandez, Fali, Iza – Machis, Alcaraz, Escalante, Alejo – Roger Marti, Maxi Gomez (4-4-2)
Possible Away Lineup: Jorgensen – Pedraza, Cuenca, Gabbia, Foyth – Capoue, Parejo, Terrats – Baena, Sorloth, Gerard Moreno (4-3-3)
21:30 – Almeria vs Celta Vigo
| Almeria | Celta | |
| Win Probability | 36% | 36% |
Almeria and Celta Vigo clash in a meeting of two winless teams under new management. The early signs are not particularly good for Vicente Moreno’s Almeria but a thumping late strike from Kaiky did at least earn them their first point last weekend. Celta have shown a bit more life in their last two matches and had chances to take the lead against Real Madrid before Jude Bellingham’s late winner last time out. The visitors face a race against time to spend some of the Gabri Veiga Saudi cash and will have new €12m forward Anastasios Douvikas available here.
Possible Home Lineup: Maximiano – Akieme, Chumi, Kaiky, Pubill – Lopy, Baba – Embarba, Arribas, Ramazani – Luis Suarez (4-2-3-1)
Possible Away Lineup: Villar – Aidoo, Nuñez, Starfelt – Sanchez, Sotelo, Beltran, Mingueza – Bamba, Aspas – Larsen (3-4-2-1)
Saturday 2nd September 2023
14:00 – Real Sociedad vs Granada
| Real Sociedad | Granada | |
| Win Probability | 64% | 15% |
It’s played three, drawn three for Real Sociedad. They’ve failed to make the most of some favourable fixtures and looked a bit lost in the final third at Las Palmas last time out. Changes are likely here, although it may be too soon for new boys Arsen Zakharyan and Kieran Tierney to play a starting role. They’ll be strong favourites again against a Granada side that beat Mallorca 3-2 last weekend to record their first win back in the top flight, but gave up plenty of chances once more.
Possible Home Lineup: Remiro – Aihen, Le Normand, Zubeldia, Traore – Merino, Zubimendi, Brais Mendez – Oyarzabal, Sadiq, Cho (4-3-3)
Possible Away Lineup: Raul Fernandez – Neva, Miquel, Rubio, Ricard – Bryan, Gumbau, Ruiz, Melendo – Uzuni, Callejon (4-4-2)
16:15 – Real Madrid vs Getafe
| Real Madrid | Getafe | |
| Win Probability | 75% | 8% |
Real Madrid play their first match at the Santiago Bernabeu of the season with refurbishment work nearing completion. They’re missing Vini Junior who has picked up an injury which will rule him out until October meaning Joselu should now get a run in the team alongside Rodrygo in attack. Getafe will come to defend and frustrate their local rivals but Carlo Ancelotti’s side will back themselves to find a breakthrough at some point in the match.
Possible Home Lineup: Kepa – Fran Garcia, Alaba, Rudiger, Carvajal – Camavinga, Tchouameni, Valverde – Bellingham – Joselu, Rodrygo (4-3-1-2)
Possible Away Lineup: Soria – Gaston, Duarte, Mitrovic, Damian Suarez, Iglesias – Djene, Maksimovic, Alena – Mayoral, Latasa (5-3-2)
18:30 – Alaves vs Valencia
| Alaves | Valencia | |
| Win Probability | 35% | 34% |
Alaves produced a surprise win over Sevilla in their only home game so far this term and they’ll be hoping to build a bit of momentum at Mendizorroza now. We saw last season with Almeria how vital home form can be for newly promoted sides. Valencia won their opening two matches but were defeated by a much rotated Osasuna side at Mestalla last weekend and they still haven’t done a great deal in the transfer market to improve their attacking options.
Possible Home Lineup: Sivera – Duarte, Abqar, Sedlar, Gorosabel – Blanco, Guevara – Rioja, Guridi, Alkain – Kike (4-2-3-1)
Possible Away Lineup: Mamardashvili – Gaya, Ozkacar, Diakhaby, Correia – Almeida, Pepelu, Guerra – Diego Lopez, Duro, Fran Perez (4-3-3)
21:00 – Real Betis vs Rayo Vallecano
| Betis | Rayo | |
| Win Probability | 50% | 23% |
Having won their opening two games under Francisco to nil, Rayo Vallecano put in a catastrophic performance on matchday three, making a host of defensive errors in a 7-0 home defeat against Atletico Madrid. Betis weren’t much better as they let an early 2-0 lead slip to lose 4-2 in Bilbao and both sides would have had a tough week on the training pitch as they aim to put things right. Off the pitch, there has been plenty going on at Betis with Luiz Felipe a reported €25 target from Al Ittihad which may free up funds for some significant late business.
Possible Home Lineup: Rui Silva – Abner, Pezzella, Bartra, Sabaly – Guido Rodriguez, Roca – Ayoze Perez, Isco, Rodri – Iglesias (4-2-3-1)
Possible Away Lineup: Dimitrievski – Espino, Aridane, Lejeune, Balliu – Valentin, Unai Lopez – Alvaro Garcia, Trejo, Isi – De Tomas (4-2-3-1)
Sunday 3rd September 2023
14:00 – Girona vs Las Palmas
| Girona | Las Palmas | |
| Win Probability | 58% | 17% |
Girona were one of the surprise packages last season and they’ve continued to impress this term with new boys Daley Blind and Savio slotting very nicely into what was already a competitive team. They are clear favourites here against a Las Palmas side that played quite well against Real Sociedad last weekend but is looking short on firepower and is yet to score from open play.
Possible Home Lineup: Gazzaniga – Miguel Gutierrez, Blind, David Lopez, Arnau Martinez – Herrera, Aleix Garcia – Savio, Ivan Martin, Tsygankov – Stuani (4-2-3-1)
Possible Away Lineup: Valles – Cardona, Marmol, Alex Suarez, Araujo – Kirian Rodriguez, Loiodice, Viera – Sandro, Kaba, Munir (4-3-3)
16:15 – Mallorca vs Athletic Club
| Mallorca | Athletic | |
| Win Probability | 30% | 40% |
Athletic Club have produced two good performances to put six points on the board in their last two outings with the Williams brothers causing problems on the two flanks. They have Oihan Sancet available again this weekend which could relegate Iker Muniain to the bench once more. Mallorca can be awkward opponents but they’ve not been at their best yet with an uncharacteristically shaky defensive showing in the 3-2 defeat at Granada last time out.
Possible Home Lineup: Rajkovic – Copete, Mascarell, Valjent – Lato, Darder, Morlanes, Maffeo – Rodriguez – Larin, Muriqi (3-4-1-2)
Possible Away Lineup: Simon – Imanol, Vivian, Paredes, Lekue – Vesga, Ruiz de Galarreta – Iñaki Williams, Sancet, Nico Williams – Guruzeta (4-2-3-1)
18:30 – Atletico Madrid vs Sevilla (Featured Game)
| Atletico Madrid | Sevilla | |
| Win Probability | 65% | 14% |
Atletico Madrid and Sevilla meet this Sunday in a game that already has some pressure riding on it for visiting boss José Luis Mendilibar. The miracles he performed in guiding the club to their seventh Europa League title in a caretaker capacity should in theory buy him time, but defeat here would mean four straight losses to start the season for a club who were considered strong top four contenders.
That’s not good enough by any means and there is a sense of history repeating itself at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan given their woeful start to last season which resulted in the early departure of Julen Lopetegui. They’ve not even had particularly tough fixtures until this point, but they will need to raise their game and produce a much stronger showing if they want to even compete at the Estadio Metropolitano on Sunday night.
Atleti won’t be short on confidence. They hammered Rayo Vallecano 7-0 on Monday in a clear statement of their intention to compete for this season’s title. They did that without some important players too but there were good performances across the team with six different goalscorers in a rout that started early with Antoine Griezmann’s second minute goal.
Diego Simeone has depth across the pitch now which certainly bodes well for their chances of competing on multiple fronts. Some of his summer signings and returning loanees have barely featured yet despite injury issues and the final day of the window may be more about sealing departures for the likes of Joao Felix rather than targeting fresh additions.
Possible Home Lineup: Oblak – Hermoso, Witsel, Savic – Carrasco, De Paul, Barrios, Saul, Molina – Morata, Griezmann (3-5-2)
Possible Away Lineup: Dmitrovic – Pedrosa, Gudelj, Bade, Navas – Rakitic, Sow – Lamela, Suso, Ocampos – En Nesyri (4-2-3-1)
Featured Game Prediction: Atletico Madrid 3-0 Sevilla
Sevilla look like a team that has allowed a bit of complacency to creep into their game after their fine end to last season. They really haven’t got going and with Atleti so impressive on Monday, this could be quite a one-sided game unless Mendilibar can really get inside the heads of his players and spark a much improved display.
Head over to our LaLiga match predictions for score predictions for all of the other matches via Pooky, a new football predictions game.
21:00 – Osasuna vs Barcelona
| Osasuna | Barcelona | |
| Win Probability | 18% | 60% |
Osasuna were in Conference League action on Thursday night with a key game in Bruges as they unsuccessfully attempted to overhaul a 2-1 deficit. The subsequent international break will give them a chance to rest players, but we can still expect some rotation here. Barcelona will be hoping to take full advantage of that in a game that is more likely to resemble their opening two matches this season as opposed to the goal fest at Villarreal last weekend.
Possible Home Lineup: Aitor – Mojica, David Garcia, Catena, Areso – Oroz, Ibanez, Munoz – Arnaiz, Raul Garcia, Ruben Garcia (4-3-3)
Possible Away Lineup: Ter Stegen – Balde, Christensen, Kounde, Roberto – De Jong, Romeu, Gundogan – Gavi, Lewandowski, Yamal (4-3-3)
LaLiga Matchday 4 Fantasy Picks
Sorare Cap Picks via @SorareLALIGA
Our Sorare team fits into a Cap 220 tournament this week with a total cost of 219 points. There are some really nice LaLiga picks right now with the likes of Dani Carvajal, Aleix Garcia and Iago Aspas all way below their usual levels and capable of significantly outperforming their cost in favourable fixtures.
With Claudio Bravo carrying an injury, Rui Silva looks a safe pick in goal for Betis against a Rayo side who were hammered on Monday night. Meanwhile, with no Vini, the onus will be on Rodrygo to put Getafe to the sword for Real Madrid.
If you’re not on Sorare, sign up here to get a free Limited card after your 5th purchase on the primary market. You can also simply play for free by entering the LaLiga Amateur competition each week.
Best Full Team Stack: Oblak – Molina – De Paul – Griezmann – Morata
Barcelona, Atletico, Real Madrid, Girona and Real Sociedad are all very clear favourites this weekend so there could be some big scores in LaLiga competitions and there are plenty of ways you could go if you’re looking for a full team stack.
We’re just going to favour Atleti who were brilliant on Monday in Vallecas, with Real Madrid potentially enduring a frustrating afternoon against what will be a very defensive Getafe side that shut Barcelona out on matchday one.
With Memphis Depay injured, Alvaro Morata should partner Antoine Griezmann in attack for Atleti while Rodrigo De Paul has made an excellent start to the season and looks a great midfield pick. Nahuel Molina also made an impressive return to the team on Monday and could score well again here.
