Malaga v Sevilla headlines a Friday football feast from the continent
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It’s a full house this weekend as La Liga returns to give a bumper selection of football from the continent. Friday night brings with it a tasty teaser for the weekend with clashes from Germany, France and Spain to get stuck into.
Coral preview those games, as Hertha Berlin host Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 champions and current table-toppers PSG travel to rock-bottom and Europa League winner Sevilla are on the road to Malaga in La Liga.
Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen
On the opening day, Hertha travelled to an Augsburg outfit who enjoyed their greatest ever season last time out and nicked a 1-0 win to get off to the best of starts. The home side have been the victor in six of the previous seven renewals of this fixture, and Pal Dardai’s men are even-money favourites to make it seven triumphs here.
Bremen, in contrast, had a nightmare start, losing 3-0 on their own patch to Schalke. They need to find their feet and they’re 12/5 to get off the mark with three points. The Green-Whites might find that a little difficult, though, and it could be a case of baby steps, so the identical 12/5 price on a draw may be worth taking.
Former Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou is the main man at Hertha and got off to a goalscoring start at Augsburg, so is 5/1 to break the deadlock. As for Bremen, Aron Johansson has to start after their blunt showing against Bremen, and is 13/2 to get on the scoresheet first.
Montpellier v PSG
PSG have got off to a great start with a victory at Lille and a 2-0 success at new boys Gazelec Ajaccio, as they bid to win a third successive Ligue 1 title. That was their fifth away victory on the bounce in the French top flight, and the Parisians are odds-on favourites at 8/15 for another win against Montpellier.
Montpellier take on the league leaders rock bottom of the division after two losses from two; not ideal preparation for a showdown with France’s premier club. It would take an incredible performance for the home side to grab a win and that’s reflected in their 6/1 price. A draw is perhaps more feasible at 11/4.
The champions have three clean sheets in four against their opponents here and MHSC have yet to register a league goal, so a PSG victory to nil at 11/10 appeals massively.
Malaga v Sevilla
La Liga gets back into the swing of things this week and we start with a tasty looking match-up between Malaga and Sevilla. The home team lost the likes of Samu Castillejo and Juanmi this summer and might find them difficult to replace, but they’re 2/1 to take the points.
Sevilla won yet another Europa League crown last season and while they may have lost Carlos Bacca and Aleix Vidal they’ve added well in the off-season. The Bathtubs strengthened their core with the acquisitions of Adil Rami and Steven N’Zonzi, and are 27/20 for an opening day success. A share of the spoils is 9/4.
Ciro Immobile is Los Rojiblancos’ most interesting signing. He needs to replace the goals of the departed Bacca after stuttering at Dortmund, and he’s 11/2 to notch first.
Coral’s top tip: Only Real Madrid and Barcelona won more away games than Sevilla last season, so back them to triumph at 27/20 in Malaga.
