BEN RAGG (@RaggysTips) shares his view on the best bets ahead of Friday night's La Liga action.
Real Sociedad vs Granada | Friday 10th July 2020, 18:30 | La Liga TV
The first game on Friday night in La Liga sees Granada travel north to face Real Sociedad.
Granada have shown mixed form since the restart but still have an optimistic chance of finishing in a European place if they pick up three points here and other results go their way in the coming weeks. Sociedad sit seventh, three places above Granada and two points off the last European qualification place with a game in-hand on Getafe.
Sociedad have been in really poor form since the restart, managing just five points from a possible 21 but four of those came in La Real’s last two games to renew hope for the Basques.
The first angle I like is the passes market for Sociedad centre back Aritz Elustondo. La Real are a team that like to keep the ball and have the fourth-highest average possession with an average of 55% per-game. Granada, on the other hand, average the third-lowest figure with just 45.7%.
Elustondo has managed 75+ passes in three of his last five starts and looked likely to make it four out of five had he not been taken off after 64 minutes versus Alaves. Both teams have completely different styles so I’m happy to back the home defender to cover the 75+ passes line at 13/5 with PokerStars. There’s also 23/10 available with Ladbrokes/Coral.
Real Madrid vs Alaves | Friday 10th July 2020, 18:30 | La Liga TV
The second match of the night in Spain sees in-form Real Madrid host out-of-sorts Alaves; Madrid have won all seven outings since the restart, scoring 13 goals and conceding just twice, whilst Alaves have managed W1-D0-L6, nothing just three goals.
Alaves face an extremely uphill task at the Bernabeu and it’s hard to see where the visitors will get joy against a defensively sound and well-drilled Los Blancos outfit. So, the first bet I like for this game is Real Madrid to win ‘to nil’ at 5/6 with Skybet. Real have won five of their last six games with a clean sheet and boast 18 La Liga shutouts in 34 fixtures this term.
Finally, I like the penalty market. The referee for this one is Jesus Gil Manzano who has awarded an average of 0.61 penalties per-game in La Liga, which is the third-highest in the division. Meanwhile, Real have been given nine league penalties this season, scoring all nine. Alaves have conceded 14 penalties, which ranks the visitors second in the league.
Real have also been awarded a penalty in their last two games with Sergio Ramos taking. However, Los Blancos’ captain is banned for this match after picking up his 10th yellow versus Bilbao. Next in line for is Benzema who has converted all three penalties for Real in La Liga this season; Benzema to score a penalty can be backed with BetVictor at 21/4.
Best Bets
Real Sociedad vs Granada – Aritz Elustondo to make Over 74.5 Passes (13/5 Poker Stars)
Real Madrid vs Alaves – Real Madrid to win to nil (5/6 SkyBet)
Real Madrid vs Alaves – Karim Benzema to score a penalty (21/4 BetVictor)
