La Liga 2025/26: Real Madrid vs Betis Preview, Prediction, TV channels, Live Score & Lineups
Real Madrid kicked off 2026 at the Santiago Bernabéu, seeking to close the four-point gap behind league leaders Barcelona. Second-placed Madrid faced a resilient sixth-placed Betis, the league’s only unbeaten away team.

Kick Off Time
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Competition (Round): La Liga (Round 18)
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Kick-off (GMT): 15:15, Sunday, January 4, 2026
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Stadium, Location: Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain
Match Facts
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Real Madrid faced a significant injury crisis, missing Kylian Mbappé (knee), Trent Alexander-Arnold (muscle), and Dani Carvajal (knee).
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Madrid dominated possession (53%) but struggled to break down a compact Betis defense that had kept three clean sheets in their last four games.
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Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior led the attack for Xabi Alonso's side, while Betis relied on Aitor Ruibal, who entered the match in red-hot form.
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Real Betis maintained their reputation as a "tough nut to crack" on the road, utilizing their unbeaten away streak to frustrate the hosts.
Prediction of AI
Prior to the match, AI data models provided the following insights:
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Real Madrid (43.51%), Real Betis (32.41%), Draw (24.07%).
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The most frequent AI-simulated result was a 1-1 draw (11.11% probability) or a narrow 2-1 Madrid victory.
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Real Madrid remained the heavy favorite (-250) despite their injury woes.
How to Watch Espanyol vs Barcelona in Spain, UK, and US?
While Real Madrid played Betis, the Catalan derby was also a highlight of the weekend:
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Spain: Live on DAZN LaLiga and Movistar+.
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UK: Available via Disney+ (streaming) and Premier Sports (selected matches).
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US: Exclusively on ESPN+ (English and Spanish) and ESPN Deportes.
TV Channel and Live Stream: You can also follow Xscore808 live updates for other countries