La Liga Betting Preview: Can Real Madrid end Atletico’s unbeaten run in the Madrid Derby?
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Odds and preview for this weekend’s Spanish football
Despite having two games in hand over their nearest challengers, Atletico Madrid sit top of the La Liga tree heading into the festive period.
But they’re faced with their toughest test of the season so far, as they travel to city rivals Real Madrid in the first Madrid Derby of the season.
Zinedine Zidane’s side have been hit and miss so far this campaign, but the form book is typically set aside in these matches, as Real would love to be the team to end Atleti’s unbeaten start to the season.
There’s plenty more La Liga action to enjoy across the weekend, and we’ve previewed our pick of the fixtures.
Neither side have managed the start to the season they’d have hoped for. Valencia sit 13th in the league with three wins from their opening 12 matches, while Athletic Bilbao are 14th, level on points but with a game in hand.
Both sides come into this match after failing to score last weekend, with Valencia picking up a point away to Eibar while Bilbao slumped to a 2-0 home defeat against Celta Vigo.
It’s Athletic Bilbao who are 7/5 favourites to secure three points on the road, while Valencia are 21/10 to win at home.
Carlos Soler is Valencia’s leading goalscorer with four so far this campaign, and he’s 7/1 to break the deadlock here, while Maxi Gomez is 9/4 to add to his tally anytime.
Alex Berenguer, Unai Lopez and Iker Muniain each have two goals for Bilbao this season. They’re 10/3, 4/1 and 3/1 to score anytime respectively.
Zidane’s side have bounced back from two defeats on the bounce to win their next two, sealing their progression to the next round of the Champions League in the process.
They’re six points behind Atletico despite playing a game more, but they could close the gap to three points should they end Atletico’s 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Los Blancos came out on top in their home fixture last season, but could Atletico’s momentum help their cause? Real Madrid are 7/5 favourites to win, with Diego Simeone’s men are 2/1 to keep their run going.
Two of the last four meetings in La Liga between the city rivals have finished 0-0. Think we’ll be in for another scoreless draw? That’s 15/2 with us.
Sergio Ramos could return to bolster Real Madrid’s defence. He’s a prolific goalscoring defender too, so could inspire a derby win. Real Madrid to Win to Nil is 29/10, while Atletico Madrid to Win to Nil is 4/1.
A goalless draw against a 10-man Alaves last weekend wasn’t enough to maintain Real Sociedad’s position at the top of the league, but they could regain top spot should Atletico lose.
They’ll come in off the back of a tricky Thursday night Europa League tie against Napoli, with both sides yet to seal qualification to the knock-out round.
Eibar are four unbeaten in the league, and while they’ve only won one of those, they’ve only conceded once in that time too.
Real Sociedad are the odds-on 8/13 favourites to secure three points, while Eibar are 5/1 to get a result. Could Los Armeros secure their fourth clean sheet in five matches? We’ve got 17/2 on Eibar to Win to Nil.
Sociedad are in a similar vein of form, unbeaten in the league in eight, keeping five clean sheets. Think they could make it six clean sheets in nine wins? They’re 29/20 to Win to Nil.
A 2-0 win over Osasuna last weekend ended Real Betis’ latest three game slump, with Los Verdiblancos managing to keep their first clean sheet in seven matches.
Unai Emery has made El Submarino Amarillo a tough side to break down since taking over in the summer, and they’re third in the table, losing just once. They’re finding goalscoring an issue recently, scoring one goal or fewer in each of their last five in all competitions.
The away side are still slight 3/1 favourites to win, though Real Betis can’t be taken lightly at 4/1.
Villarreal picked up a precious three points the last time they faced each other in July, with a clean sheet to boot in a 2-0 victory. Fancy a repeat of that? We’ve got 12/1 on another 2-1 Villarreal win.
Betis’ last win was secured by two second-half strikes from Borja Iglesias and Juan Miranda Gonzalez. There’s 5/6 on over 1.5 goals in the second half.
Barcelona could find themselves a staggering 15 points off the pace at the top of La Liga should results not go their way this weekend, and after two defeats on the bounce to Cadiz and Juventus, the pressure is piling on Ronald Koeman.
A defeat against Levante could seal Koeman’s fate and leave Barca looking for yet another manager. Granotas come into the game on some solid form, beating Getafe 3-0 last time out off the back of five 1-1 draws in a row.
Koeman’s men still retain 1/4 favouritism to win at home, while there’s 10/1 about Levante causing a shock at Camp Nou.
With Levante’s drawing record in recent matches, it could be hard to overlook the draw at 5/1, with yet another 1-1 scoreline coming in at 12/1.
Barcelona’s fast start in their last match against Levante led them to a 2-1 win. Think they’ll score two or more in the first half again? That’s 9/5.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
