Real Betis v Las Palmas: Faith in youth should inspire Betis

LA Liga tipster Callum Read (@callumread) pores over the Friday night match and finds a value bet to share.

Real Betis v Las Palmas | Friday 19:45 | Sky Sports 5

What a difference a couple of weeks make. The last time Real Betis played a league game, Gus Poyet was still in charge and all seemed doom and gloom at Benito Villamarín, however, there is now a feeling of optimism in the Betis camp.

Replacing Poyet at Los Verdiblancos is Victor Sanchez. The former Deportivo manager guided the Branquiazuis to a 15th place finish last season before being sacked, he then joined Greek side Olympiacos FC, where he’d last just two months.

There are some positives to the man known as Victor’s appointment though. In April 2015 he took over at Depor and kept the Galician club in the league, finishing the season with a 2-2 draw against Barcelona.

As for Las Palmas’ things seem to be moving in the opposite direction. They started the season in fine form and were one of the league’s most entertaining sides. A few weeks later and they’ve slipped out of the Europa League spots. Their injury time win against Eibar last time out was their first win in six games.

Victor to field youth

Ask any keen La Liga watcher about Real Betis and they’ll tell you they’ve got one of the most exciting teams in the league. The likes of Charly Musonda, Dani Ceballos and Antonio Sanabria bring a young, fresh look to the Sevilla team. The problem was though, Poyet refused to play these young, flair players. Instead opting for safer, more experienced heads.

Of course this came back to bite the former Chelsea man, these are no ordinary young players that’s the issue. Musonda is on loan from Chelsea and is widely regarded as a player who could break into the first team at Stamford Bridge in a few years.

Ceballos is one of the best young players in Spain, his creativity and willingness to run with the ball makes him a valuable asset to any side and Tony Sanabria scored 11 goals in an incredibly underwhelming Sporting Gijon side this season and was eventually called up to the Paraguayan national team for the Copa America this summer.

All three of these players should now come into the Betis’ team with Poyet departing. The expected front two should look like Ruben Castro and Antonio Sanabria, I expect Betis’ to use the former’s aerial presence to create chances for the latter.

Las Palmas away form

I’m going to contradict myself here, however, I’m ruling out Betis’ shocking home form due to the change of manager. The players will want to impress Victor starting this weekend. The Canaries have won just once away from home conceding 12 goals in their five games. They have however, scored nine goals.

Picking up a 2-2 draw against Osasuna and being blown away 4-1 by Real Sociedad are just a couple of the disappointing results they’ve suffered this season. I like the way Quique Setien’s side play football, their fast attacking, entertaining style of play has won many admirers, however, it’s also cost them a lot of games due to gaps in their defence.

In terms of this game providing goals, Las Palmas have seen over 2.5 goals scored in their last seven away games and have conceded at least twice in the same time period. Real Betis meanwhile, have won five of their last six home matches against Las Palmas in all competitions.

The omens certainly support a home victory in this one and I’m leaning towards the Home Win and Total Goals Market in this fixture, especially the Over 1.5 Goals market. This covers us if Betis win 2-0. This can be backed, best price at 41/20 with Bet Stars.