MARK O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) delivered more La Liga profit for us this weekend but can follow up his good recent form with a winner from Monday night’s offering in Spain?
Espanyol v Elche | Monday 19.00
I hadn’t planned on sharing a selection from Spain for Monday night’s match. Espanyol v Elche is unlikely to feature prominently in any punters portfolio but having looked over the prices, I just have to get involved.
Espanyol’s season looks to be running out of steam. A heart-breaking Copa del Rey semi-final defeat to Athletic Bilbao has knocked confidence in the camp and the Catalans now find themselves going through the motions. Sergio’s men are nine points above the drop zone and 16 away from the European places. It’s fair to say, the hosts have little to play for bar pride.
Having failed to score in their last three La Liga outings, Espanyol will be pleased to welcome skipper Sergio Garcia back into the squad. The home side have picked up just five points from a possible 15 and scored more than one goal in a game just once in seven.
The Barcelona-based club can boast a reasonably strong record at their Estadi Cornellà-El Prat home. Since the start of the season, Espanyol have W7-D4-L3 with all seven victories for the Parakeets coming against sides in 10th and below. But I couldn’t possibly be entertaining Sergio’s side at 7/10 to take maximum points from this encounter.
Sure, Elche were hammered 4-0 and 3-0 in their previous two games against in-form Sevilla and Valencia but the unfashionable visitors have a knack for picking up results against the grain. Since the turn of the year, Fran Escriba’s charges have W2-D1-L2 in their five La Liga road trips, lifting Los Franjiverdes out of the relegation zone.
Jonathas’ return of two goals in his last 10 appearances has put extra emphasis on the rest of the team to chip in with goals but I just feel they’re a little overpriced at 5/4 with Bet365 to avoid defeat in the Double Chance market.
The visitors have collected 26 of their 27 points against teams outside the top-seven (W7-D5-L5). Their away record in those fixtures reads W3-D3-L3 and I just don’t feel those results are reflected fairly in the odds. Sure Espanyol have a solid home record with a 50% win ratio, but they’re on the beach and shouldn’t be as short as 7/10 to win this match.
Best Bets
Espanyol v Elche – Elche double chance (5/4 Bet365)
