La Liga Betting Preview: Can Atletico, Real and Sociedad all keep pace at the top?
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Odds and preview ahead of this weekend’s La Liga action
It’s tight at the top of La Liga, with Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Real Madrid all sitting pretty as joint leaders on 26 points.
Atleti continue to lead the way despite picking up their first league defeat of the season against their City rivals last time out, though they’ve still got at least two games over their nearest title challengers.
Real Sociedad also lost momentum in their charge for the title, giving up a lead to lose to Barcelona, while Real Madrid won twice in a week to draw level at the top.
We’ve got plenty more La Liga action to enjoy this weekend, and we’ve picked out the best of the fixture list to preview before kick-off.
At the 11th time of asking, Diego Simeone’s side slumped to their first league defeat of the season at the hands of their fiercest rivals, but it was the performance that would have disappointed more than the result, as they managed just one shot on target.
They face the perfect match to bounce back though, as league strugglers Elche visit the Wanda Metropolitano without a win in six. Their last win came against Valencia though, so Simeone will need to ensure no complacency slips in.
Atletico are odds-on 2/9 favourites to win, while Elche are 16/1 to cause another upset. The draw is 9/2.
Luis Suarez and Joao Felix have complemented each other perfectly up front so far this season, and it’s no surprise they’re 23/10 and 16/5 to score first respectively. Marcos Llorente is in a rich vein of form so far, and he’s 23/10 to add to his four league goals anytime.
Lucas Boye provides the main threat for Elche up top, leading the way with two so far this season. He’s 20/1 to score first, while there’s 8/1 on him finding the net anytime.
Have Barcelona started to drag themselves back into contention for this season’s title? Two narrow league wins in a week has seen them close the gap at the top to six points although they’ve played a game more.
Valencia still aren’t firing on all cylinders, with a late Manu Vallejo goal securing a point at the Mestalla against fellow strugglers Athletic Bilbao last week. Last time they faced Barcelona though, they were 2-0 victors, so could this be the turning point in their season?
Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona are odds-on 1/3 favourites to win, with Valencia 8/1 to claim three points. The draw is 9/2.
Barcelona seem to struggle to start matches with any kind of pace at the moment, usually allowing their opposition to get on top before growing into the game. Fancy them to win from behind for the second time in a week? That’s 13/2.
We’ve not seen the best from Lionel Messi so far this season, but he still leads Barcelona in terms of scoring. He’s 23/10 to score first or 8/15 anytime, while 17/2 says Valencia’s Maxi Gomez scores first, with Manu Vallejo 3/1 to find the net.
Sociedad’s first league defeat in 10 matches will be even more disappointing when they consider they had the upper hand and allowed a precious lead to slip, but there’s still plenty of time for them to make amends.
They’ll start here against Levante, a side who sit in the drop zone having won just once in their last 10 matches. They also slipped to a narrow defeat against Barcelona last time out, so who can bounce back with a win?
Real Sociedad are 11/10 favourites to win, with Levante 5/2 to secure three points. The draw is 23/10.
The pair played out a 1-1 draw last time they faced each other, and that’s available at 11/2 to happen again here. Sociedad are expected to rotate their squad after that Barcelona defeat, with influential playmaker David Silva still missing through injury.
Aleksandar Isak opened the scoring in that 1-1 draw, and he’s the joint 4/1 favourite to score first here, alongside Willian Jose who opened the scoring against Barcelona. Jose Luis Morales levelled in the last meeting between the pair, and he’s 23/10 to score anytime.
Unai Emery was known for being a draw specialist in his time at Arsenal, and he’s proving that once again at the helm of Villarreal, with seven draws from their opening 13 league matches including last time out against Real Betis.
They’re against the league’s basement boys Osasuna this weekend though and should have enough firepower to guide El Submarino Amarillo to all three points and continue their fight in the hunt for the title.
The away side are the 23/20 favourites to secure three points, with Osasuna 5/2 to grab their fourth win of the season. A draw is 9/4.
Villarreal have won three of the last four meetings between the two, and there’s usually goals in the game too. A Villarreal win with Both Teams to Score is 18/5, while over 2.5 goals in the game is 11/10.
Gerard Moreno has been on fire so far this season with six league goals, and he’s the 4/1 favourite to break the deadlock. Pau Torres was on the scoresheet last weekend, and he’s 12/1 to score again anytime. Adrian Lopez, Ante Budimir, Brandon Llamas and Ruben Garcia are all 14/5 to score anytime for Osasuna.
Has that defeat against Alaves at the end of November helped Real Madrid to turn a corner in their title defence? Five wins on the bounce in all competitions says they have, while climbing to the top of the table.
Eibar helped Real to join Real Sociedad and Atletico at the top of the table, taking points off Sociedad last time out, and they could be a tough side to face, unbeaten in five with three clean sheets.
Real Madrid are odds-on 8/15 favourites, while Eibar are 11/2 to claim the win. The draw is 16/5.
Eight of the last 10 meetings between the two have been won by Real, with 33 goals scored in those matches. Fancy another Real Madrid win with over 2.5 goals? That’s 13/10.
But Eibar’s defensive record could cause Real more problems than they’re aware of. Think Eibar could grab a result? An Eibar Win to Nil is 10/1, while a goalless draw is available at 12/1.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
