WEDNESDAY IN EUROPE: The Ultra previews ATHLETIC BILBAO v VALENCIA and ATLETICO MADRID v ESPANYOL both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ATHLETIC BILBAO V VALENCIA
6pm The midweek La Liga action continues on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE and we have two interesting markets on Wednesday. We kick off the action with Athletic Bilbao hosting Valencia with both sides still looking for their first wins of the season. After matchday two, Valencia sat rock bottom of the table. They were involved in the relegation battle in 2022/23 but bounced up to mid-table last season – you can excuse them the loss to Barcelona but they shipped three goals away to Celta Vigo after that. Athletic Bilbao have also been beaten by Barcelona, their disappointing result was a home draw against Getafe on the opening day of the season. The reality is neither have started well, both are conceding more chances than they are creating so far – but obviously they’ve both played Barcelona so we can cut them a little slack. Home advantage is likely to be very important here – especially when you look at the Athletic Bilbao under-lining numbers from last season. They come into the game as the odds on favourites – Athletic Bilbao are trading 1.63 with Valencia 7.0 and the draw is 4.1 at the time of writing.
We landed a nice bet against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend with their away form last season a huge factor. Last season they had an average xG created of 1.7 at home and an average conceded of 1.04. Very impressive figures, but then away from home they conceded more than they created – their average xG created fell to only 1.15 and their average conceded went up to 1.35. Valencia were very limited in front of goal last season especially away from home with an average xG created of only 1.04 – and they conceded a lot of chances away from home too. With both sides struggling a little at the start of the season, I’m not going to go mad with the stakes here. However, Athletic Bilbao play their best football at home and Valencia play their worst football away from home – I feel home advantage is huge here, and I’d have Athletic Bilbao a little shorter than their current 1.63. They are a better side than Valencia, and they can get the job done here.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Athletic Bilbao to beat Valencia at 1.63 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AthVln
ATLETICO MADRID V ESPANYOL
8.30pm We finish Wednesday night in La Liga with Atletico Madrid hosting Espanyol, and the home side come into this game as the red-hot favourites. They are trading as short as 1.34 at the time of writing with Espanyol 12.0 and the draw is 5.7. Espanyol have started their season with two losses, and they already look like being involved in the relegation battle. They went down in 2022/23 and obviously bounced straight back up from the Segunda but as we are seeing all around Europe lately, the gulf in class between the top leagues and the second tier is growing every year with all the money at the top level. Espanyol have a huge job on their hands to stay up – the reality is results away to the likes of Atletico Madrid won’t have a major impact on them staying up – they aren’t expected to get any points here and anything they do get is a bonus. How they get on against the mid-table sides will decide their faith this season. Atletico Madrid started their season with a reasonably disappointing draw at Villarreal but hammered Girona 3-0 at the weekend with home advantage.
That result probably laid down a marker that they want their third spot back! With home advantage, it’s very hard to see past an Atletico win here – no prizes for tipping 1.34 shots so I’m not going to do that, but they are a very good option for any midweek Acca. We’re going to have to look around the side markets for some value here; I don’t see past an Atletico win so it’s just about how many goals they can score in my opinion. Their performance levels were much better at home last season compared to away. At home they created an average xG of 1.61 and conceded 1.31 – away from home they marginally conceded more chances than they created. Espanyol haven’t created much in two 1-0 losses, and I feel Atletico can keep a clean sheet on the way to winning. Both Teams Not To Score looks a nice position at 1.66.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.66 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AtlEpn
