LA Liga lover Carl Jones (@CJBettingPro) has found a bet he fancies from Monday night’s Spanish football showdown between Elche and Rayo.
Elche v Rayo Vallecano | Monday 19.45
Rayo travel to Alicante to play Elche at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero on Monday evening in what should be a close fought La Liga clash. Neither team has displayed any consistent form of late with both sides fearing relegation at the end of the season.
Elche sit rock bottom of La Liga with 17 points, having conceded a massive 42 goals and only scoring 18. The hosts have lost their last two; a 6-0 thrashing by Barcelona was followed by a 1-0 loss in what was a bottom of the table clash with Granada last weekend.
Los Franjiverdes’ home form doesn’t make pretty reading, winning just two of their 10 games with six defeats. A minor positive for home supporters is Elche sit just two points from safety despite propping up the table.
Rayo arrive and their record doesn’t read too much better. Sitting 15th in the table on 23 points, the visitors have lost 12 games already this season including successive defeats.
Defending champions Atletico Madrid beat Los Franjirrojos 3-1 at the Vicente Calderon, an excusable reverse. But last time out Pacos Jemez’s men were on the wrong end of a result against Deportivo and are now only five points above the drop zone.
However, Rayo do boast a very decent record when playing away. It’s the seventh best road record in the league with five wins from 11 taken on their travels. In their last five games away from the capital, Rayo have bagged three wins and two defeats – the losses coming against Atletico and Valencia.
Looking at the head-to-head battle and we can see Elche have only lose one of their last 11 in league action, dating back to 2003, against their Madrid-based opponents. Last season, Elche came out on top with 3-2 and 2-0 victories. The last six clashes have seen four Both Teams To Score winners.
Elche have also a number of players returning from suspension to bolster their squad. Pedro Mosquera remains on the sidelines though but otherwise Fran Escriba has a full squad to choose from.
Rayo’s only injury concern is David Cobeno but Abdoulaye Ba will sit this one out from suspension. The Senegal defender is a key player at the back for the visitors and that should be a blow to any clean sheet chances.
Last season Rayo were my go to team for profit; I loved betting on goals in their matches. Most of the time they lost but they always seemed to bag a goal and I have a good record of picking winners in their matches.
This season on the road, Rayo have scored in five out of their last six games and hopefully this run continues. Taking that into account and the fact that Elche have conceded at least two goals in five of their last six at the Martínez Valero, we should see some goals in this game.
Elche will want to make amends for their last home game and try to give something back. I actually think this fixture could go either way and a draw is probably a fair bet, best price being 9/4 with BetVictor. If you are looking for a bigger odds bet you could back Both Teams To Score and Draw at a bigger price of 18/5 with BetVictor.
But I’m going to keep it simple and back ‘yes’ in the Both Teams To Score column with William Hill’s 10/11. I reckon both sides will be happy with the draw (1-1 being available at 6/1 with BetVictor) and there’s enough in the dodgy defences to believe we should see goals.
Best Bets
Elche v Rayo Vallecano – Both Teams To Score (10/11 William Hill)
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Your View
What's your best bet from Monday night's La Liga showdown? Could Rayo continue their excellent away form? Is Carl right to backing Both Teams To Score?
We'd love to hear your thoughts on the game so let us know in the comments box below.
