SATURDAY IN EUROPE: The Ultra previews VALENCIA v ATLETICO MADRID and LAS PALMAS v BARCELONA both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
VALENCIA V ATLETICO MADRID
5.30pm We have a massive Saturday in the La Liga title race on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE! After Real Madrid dropped points last weekend away to Osasuna – Jude Bellingham making the headlines with a red card – that gave Barcelona the chance to go top on goal difference, which they took on Monday night. Just one point behind though, Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone are bang in the title race too. We have a fascinating Saturday ahead, and we kick it off with Valencia hosting Atletico Madrid. While this game will have a big impact on the title race, it will also have a big impact on the relegation battle with Valencia sitting in the bottom three at the moment. Valencia are such a big club with a decent history, it would be a massive shame if they went down – even allowing for the fact they have been through a lot over the past few years. They do have some decent momentum at the moment – they have only lost twice in their last nine La Liga games, and those losses came against Real Madrid and Barcelona. They might have got tonked 7-1 away to Barcelona, but you can easily forgive any La Liga club losing to the top two.
Valencia actually looked down and out, but they’ve given themselves an excellent chance of staying up now. They come into this matchday level on points with Las Palmas who played Barcelona later in the day, and just one point behind Espanyol and Leganes. As you would expect, Atletico Madrid come into the game as the favourites – I was expecting them to be a little shorter to be honest but obviously Valencia have got a lot of results lately. Atletico Madrid are trading 1.96 with Valencia 4.7 and the draw is 3.45 at the time of writing. Valencia have been a lot more solid at the back with home advantage, but it’s still hard to ignore Atletico at 1.96 in my opinion – Valencia have the fourth worst attacking figure in La Liga this season. Diego Simeone has Atletico absolutely rock solid at the back, grinding out results in classic Atletico fashion – they have been exceptionally difficult to score again; only 16 goals conceded in 24 La Liga games! Their xG conceded figure is obviously higher than that, but it’s just be classic Atletico really. I respect the fact that Valencia have been grinding out results lately so I’m going to reduce stakes a little, but the 1.96 is still worth a confident bet in my opinion. Atletico can grind out another win here.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Atletico Madrid to beat Valencia at 1.96 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/VlnAtl
LAS PALMAS V BARCELONA
8pm We finish Saturday in La Liga with Las Palmas hosting Barcelona. This will be a game that Barcelona will be fully expected to win, and they come into it trading as the red-hot favourites. Barcelona are 1.26 with Las Palmas 12.5 and the draw is 7.4 at the time of writing. Once again we have another fixture that will have a big impact on the title race and the relegation battle – it’s been a good week for Barcelona after they jumped over Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid to top the table after winning on Monday night. For Las Palmas, they start the weekend sitting just outside the relegation zone, but they are level on points with Valencia who play earlier. Las Palmas haven’t been the worst side going forward this season, they actually have a mid-table attacking figure – their major issue has been at the back. They have the fourth worst defensive figure and they have been sloppy at the back too, conceding over that. Barcelona have thrown in some major shocks this season – quite possibly the biggest was their loss at home to Las Palmas – but it’s hard to see past a comfortable Barcelona win here.
You could have easily said that when the sides met at the end of November though! That was in the middle of Barcelona’s terrible run when they seemingly lost their confidence for a while – the Christmas break and the Spanish Super Cup came at a good time, and Hansi Flick was able to steady the ship. They are going for five straight La Liga wins here. With Barcelona trading so short in the match odds market, we’re going to have to look around the side markets for some value. There’s been a huge difference in the performance levels from Las Palmas at home and away this season – at home they are actually creating more than they are conceding. The market is expecting goals here, and I do feel we’ll see an open game – Barcelona tend to open things up a lot if they go two or three goals up too. I’m keen to keep stakes low given the gulf in class between the sides, but I feel Las Palmas can get on the score sheet at some stage. Both Teams To Score is worth backing at 1.73.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Both Teams To Score at 1.73 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/LasBrc
