Connect with us

Default

La Liga Week 3 Preview

Written by @Wayde_D for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now! 

Gameweek 2 proved profitable for your humble writer as eight of the ten La Liga predictions won. Barcelona lead the title race as the only team to win both of their matches so far this season. They will look to move further away from their rivals as Real Madrid play host to Atletico Madrid in the highlight of this week’s La Liga fixtures – with at least one team set to drop more points. The Madrid Derby comes with a healthy dose of regional rivalry, recent Spanish Super Cup and UEFA Champions League finals ensuring the sides’ intrinsic familiarity.

Almeria 19/20 
Draw 22/10 
Cordoba 31/10 
Two of the league’s smaller teams open Gameweek 3 in La Liga on Friday night. Almeria and Cordoba are yet to win a match from their two fixtures with both gaining a point in their home games and losing their away ones. Cordoba were lucky to make the Segunda promotion playoffs last season by virtue of Barcelona B being ineligible to join their A side in La Liga. Almeria were unfortunate to concede a late equalising goal in their league opener at home to Espanyol and should be backed to take maximum points this time.

Barcelona 3/10 
Draw 9/2 
Athletic Bilbao 15/2
Barcelona can’t win anything without kids at the moment. After 18-year-old Munir inspired their opening day win over Elche, they made it two wins in two thanks to 19-year-old forward Sandro. Luis Enrique’s team dominated Villarreal but despite superb displays from Lionel Messi and Dani Alves, they owed their 1-0 win to the young Canary Island striker who scored the only goal of the game eight minutes from time. This week Barca host last season’s fourth place finishers Athletic Bilbao. Athletic Bilbao whipped Levante 3-0 in their first home match of the season, making up for their opening day loss at Malaga. Bilbao’s victory at San Mames Stadium capped a week that included them reaching the Champions League group phase for the first time in sixteen years by knocking Napoli out of the playoffs. Barca won this fixture last season and if Bilbao couldn’t win at Malaga then their chances of gaining even a point here look unlikely.

Malaga 11/20 
Draw 27/10 
Levante 52/10
Malaga host Levante with both sides looking to bounce back from 3-0 losses. Malaga opened their season in fine style with a 1-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao before falling at Valencia last time out. Levante sit bottom of the log as the only team to have lost both their games this season. However, they have faced two difficult opponents in Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao. Levante finished a place above Malaga last season in tenth and are tipped to come away with a draw here.

Real Madrid 13/20 
Draw 27/10 
Atletico Madrid 41/10

Please see featured game.

Celta de Vigo 12/10 
Draw 22/10 
Real Sociedad 22/10
Two exciting teams headline Saturday’s final fixture. Celta Vigo are unbeaten so far with a 3-1 home win over Getafe and a 1-1 draw away to Cordoba last time out. Real Sociedad came from two goals behind to defeat visiting Real Madrid 4-2 in a thrilling comeback victory. Madrid led through early strikes by Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale and seemed to be cruising to their second victory in as many matches to start the league season. Instead, Sociedad stormed back with four unanswered goals. Sociedad’s away form has been poor having lost on opening day to Eibar and in their UEFA Europa League encounter two weeks back. However, Sociedad are unbeaten against Celta Vigo in the last eight encounters and are great value to build on their superb victory over Madrid at 22/10.

Rayo Vallecano 15/20 
Draw 5/2 
Elche 7/2
Vallecano and Elche get things started on Sunday. Vallecano finished in a decent twelfth position last season and have started this season off in similar style. They have two draws from two matches but they were both good results as they hosted Atletico Madrid on the opening match day and nearly got the better of the league champions. They earned a 2-2 draw away to Deportivo in their second fixture and will be confident heading into this match against Elche whom they beat 3-0 at home last season. Elche lost 3-0 away to Barcelona and only managed a draw at home to Granada last time out. The home win is tipped.

Valencia 6/10 
Draw 27/10
Espanyol 47/10
Valencia are sitting pretty in second spot after thrashing Malaga 3-0 at the Mestalla and earning a point at Sevilla in Gameweek 1. Espanyol are coming off a 2-1 home defeat to Sevilla and will need to put that behind them if they are to improve on their weak away record from last season, where they lost eleven of their eighteen travels, drawing four. Valencia have won ten of the last thirteen home matches against Espanyol, losing on only one occasion. Confidence will be high after their last win and Valencia should record another home victory here.

Sevilla 4/10 
Draw 33/10 
Getafe 6/1
After drawing at home to Valencia, Sevilla went on to redeem themselves with a 2-1 away win at Espanyol. They will host a Getafe side who went down 3-1 to Celta Vigo in their only away fixture. Sevilla won eleven of their eighteen home fixtures last season while Getafe lost eleven of their away matches. Sevilla won this match 3-0 last season and have won this fixture at home for the past three seasons.

Granada 24/10 
Draw 21/10 
Villarreal 11/10
Granada have so far put their horrid 2013/14 season behind them when they narrowly escaped relegation by two points. They sit on four points from two matches but will be wary when they host a Villarreal side who bravely went down 1-0 at home to giants Barcelona. The Yellow Submarines started their campaign with a great result, ousting Levante 2-0 away from home. Villarreal also impressed with a 7-0 aggregate win over Kazakhstan Astana in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. Granada won this fixture 2-0 last season with Villarreal winning their home fixture. The draw is tipped this time.

Eibar 1/1 
Draw 21/10 
Deportivo 27/10
Monday night football brings us last season’s Segunda champions Eibar hosting their runners-up Deportivo. The club from the tiny city play in front of a crowd packed into a stadium that cannot even fit 6000 people and still they managed a dream start in front of their home fans when they defeated Real Sociedad 1-0. They were dealt another tough fixture in their second match as they travelled to champions Atletico and fought bravely to a 2-1 loss. Deportivo haven’t experienced a similar start but did manage to get off the mark in their last match with a draw at home to Vallecano. Eibar won this fixture last season and their superior defensive qualities should shine through and earn them another victory.

Bet on this match now at Hollywoodbets.net! Haven’t got an account? Open one here now.

More in Default