LA LIGA boff Callum Read (@callumread) looks to continue his brilliant La Liga form this weekend.
Granada v Sevilla | Saturday 12:00 | Sky Sports
During the week we saw Granada actually win a game against a La Liga side, unfortunately for them their 1-0 win over Osasuna came in the Copa del Rey.
Needless to say however, it will give Lucas Alcaraz’s side confidence going into this weekend’s fixture against Sevilla. In the league though, the Nazaries haven’t won at home since April.
Sevilla meanwhile, have lost just once in their last five games, a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona. They currently sit in third place in the league and under Jorge Sampaoli they are playing some of the most exciting football in the league.
After their win against Deportivo in their last away fixture, it’s hard to see them not picking up all three points against, quite frankly an incredibly poor Granada side that have failed to win their last 14 league games.
Now, while Granada have the worst defence in the league, they’ve only conceded seven goals at home this season. To give that some context, that’s the same amount as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
To cover our tracks, it’s worth backing Sevilla to win and Over 1.5 Goals for the second week running – this is best priced at 5/4 with BetStars.
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol | Saturday 19:45 | Sky Sports
After suffering consecutive defeats against Real Madrid and Real Sociedad, Diego Simeone’s side got back on track with a win against Osasuna last weekend. If you take into account their Champions League and Copa del Rey fixtures, then Atleti have scored 11 goals and conceded 0 in their last three games.
Espanyol have recovered from their poor start to the season and are now unbeaten in their last seven league games, drawing four of them games and winning the other three.
Pablo Piatti is without doubt the key man for the away side this weekend, he’s contributed towards the same amount of goals this season (12) as Cristiano Ronaldo has – the most in the league.
There are doubts about the Argentinian’s fitness going into this fixture, however, the majority of Spanish news outlets are confident he’ll be fit.
We’re seeing a different Atleti side this season, Simeone is happy to let his side attack and it’s made them a much more exciting side to watch this season.
They’ve also become very vulnerable defensively, conceding seven goals in six games at the Vicente Calderon, the same amount they shipped during the whole of last season at home.
They are certainly open to conceding a goal and Atleti to win and BTTS has landed in two of their last three home games. The Madrid side have also won their last six home games against Espanyol.
At 14/5 (888), I’m more than happy to follow this bet.
Real Betis v Celta Vigo | Sunday 11:00 | Sky Sports
If you didn’t know, there is currently an ex-Liverpool striker in La Liga that’s tearing defences up on a weekly basis. No, not Luis Suarez, it’s actually Iago Aspas of Celta Vigo.
The striker has scored a remarkable seven goals in 11 starts this season and his currently enjoying his best form for the club scoring in eight goals in his last seven competitive games.
He’s currently the most in-form Spanish striker in the league and his confidence is sky high. I’d go as far as saying, right now based on form, he’s in the top-five strikers in Spain.
This weekend sees Celta Vigo travel to Betis in search of just their second away win of the season.
Newly appointed manager Victor Sanchez will be looking to move on from his second league game in charge, in which he lost 3-1 to Eibar with Cristiano Piccini picking up a red card.
There is promise for the away side, they’ve scored 12 goals in their last five games, however, instead of backing Eduardo Berizzo’s to win the game, I’m backing Iago Aspas to score anytime at odds of 9/4 with Marathon.
Valencia v Malaga | Sunday 19:45 | Sky Sports
Valencia come into this fixture having overcome Leganes 3-1 in their Copa del Rey tie, manager Cesare Prandelli will be hoping to kick start his season with Los Che with a win over Malaga this weekend.
However, his Valencia side are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and have lost six of their last eight La Liga games at the Mestalla.
Looking at Malaga, they’re unbeaten in their last three league games and pulled of an unexpected 0-0 draw against a nine man Barcelona side during their last away game. They have however, failed to win their last nine away league games.
The stats don’t make good reading for Valencia either, they’ve failed to win their last five La Liga games.
It’s still incredibly weird to see Valencia loitering around the relegation zone but truth be told they deserve to be there based on their performances this season.
Malaga will be looking to continue their momentum from their 4-3 win over Deportivo last week and continue their run of three games without a loss – something I think they’ll do this weekend.
I love the look of Malaga or draw in the Double Chance market, best priced at 23/20 with Betfair.
Best Bets
Granada v Sevilla – Sevilla to win and Over 1.5 Goals (5/4 BetStars)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol – Atletico Madrid to win and Both Teams To Score (15/4 888)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo – Iago Aspas to score at anytime (9/4 Marathon)
Valencia v Malaga – Malaga double chance (23/20 Betfair)
