Levante vs Real Madrid | Football Previews & Free Betting Tips | 23rd September 2025

Promoted Levante welcome Real Madrid to the Ciutat de València on 23 September 2025 — a proper early-season measuring stick for the hosts and a chance for the visitors to keep their perfect league start ticking. Expect a packed home end and a sizeable travelling support, with noise levels to match.

On the pitch, Levante tend to keep a 4-4-2 / 4-2-3-1 hybrid, compact without the ball and direct into wide runners when they break. Real Madrid are comfortable in a 4-3-3, monopolising possession and progressing through the thirds with patience before bursting into the box. It’s a clash of compact block versus a high-control side that can strike in waves.

• Possession & control: Real Madrid average 65% possession and complete 90% of passes, so Levante’s 48% average suggests long spells without the ball for the hosts.
• Set-piece swing: Levante both score and concede regularly from dead balls (0.40 for, 0.60 against per game). The visitors are cleaner here (0.60 for, 0.20 against), which could be decisive.
• Shot volume gap: Levante take 9.0 shots per match (3.6 on target) versus Real Madrid’s 18.6 (6.6 on target). If that pattern holds, the hosts must be clinical to stay in it.

Levante: Across the last ten competitive games it’s been a mixed bag — 6W-2D-2L if you stretch back to the promotion run-in, but top-flight form is more modest at 1W-1D-3L. They’re averaging 1.40 scored and 1.40 conceded per match this season, with just 20% clean sheets. xG sits at 1.42 for and 1.40 against, so their games have been fairly even on chances.

Real Madrid: Relentless start — 5 wins from 5 in La Liga and strong cup form around it. They average 2.40 scored and only 0.40 conceded per match, with 60% clean sheets. The underlying numbers back it up: 1.92 xG for and 0.94 xGA per match.

Levante at home: Still adjusting to the division. The hosts have had issues turning territory into clear chances, and set-piece defending has been a recurring theme.

Real Madrid away: High control, high shot volume, and generally fast starters. The visitors’ away numbers in the league are strong, with chance suppression travelling well.

The visitors consistently create more (~1.9 xG) and allow fewer (~0.9 xGA) than Levante (~1.4 xG and ~1.4 xGA), pointing to a clear expected chance gap.

The previous five league meetings lean towards Real Madrid: a 6–0 in Madrid (May 2022), a 3–1 away win in Valencia (Jan 2022), a 2–1 home win (Sep 2021), with Levante’s bright spot a 2–1 home victory (Feb 2021). The other was a 2–1 Madrid win (Oct 2020). Goals have usually featured, though margins are often tight outside that big home win.

Levante will lean on energy and quick transitions, but the visitors’ control of territory and chance quality is hard to ignore. If the hosts are to nick something, set pieces or early counters feel their best route. Otherwise, sustained pressure and superior shot volume should tell.

Prediction: Levante 1–3 Real Madrid

Main pick: Real Madrid to cover a 1 goal handicap — superior xG profile, control of possession, and defensive record.