LA LIGA: The Ultra previews ESPANYOL v ATLETICO MADRID and REAL MADRID v LEGANES both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ESPANYOL v ATLETICO MADRID
3.15pm European football is back in full flow after the International Break and La Liga is the focus on Saturday on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE! It’s a big day at both ends of the table with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid involved in the title race and their opposition Espanyol and Leganes involved in the relegation battle. We kick off the day with Espanyol hosting Atletico Madrid, and Atletico desperately need a win here to get back on track. Back-to-back losses against Getafe and Barcelona really leaves them on the backfoot in the title race – as I said in my preview of the Barcelona v Osasuna game on Thursday night, that 90 minutes was quite the swing in the title race between Atletico and Barcelona. Atletico lead 2-0, but couldn’t see out the game with Barcelona bouncing back to take the lead in injury time. Diego Simeone and his men have to just keep winning games while waiting for Barcelona and Real Madrid to drop points now – they are definitely up against it. Atletico haven’t been playing as good as the top two looking at their under-lining numbers, but you have to give them massive credit for grinding out so many results. They have been so solid at the back, but unfortunately that abandoned them in the week before the International Break.
It’s not a surprise to see Atletico come into the game as the favourites given Espanyol are in the relegation battle. Atletico are trading 1.64 with Espanyol 6.8 and the draw is 4.0 at the time of writing. Espanyol start the weekend one point ahead of the relegation zone, but they sit in 15th with a lot of sides involved in the relegation battle this season. The stats make for grim reading for Espanyol – they have the joint-worst attacking figure in La Liga; one of only two clubs with an average xG created under 1.0. Espanyol have also been very poor at the back; they have the joint-worst defensive figure too. Atletico’s under-lining numbers haven’t exactly been jump-off-the-page impressive this season; they only have the seventh best attacking figure for example but given how poor Espanyol have been I was surprised to see Atletico trading as big as 1.65 when I clicked into the market. I know they went into the International Break on a low, but they can steady the ship here and the 1.65 looks cracking value. I feel it’s worth a Five Star NAP at the odds!
The Ultra Says:
Five points win Atletico Madrid to beat Espanyol at 1.65 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/EspAtl
REAL MADRID v LEGANES
8pm We finish Saturday with one of the shortest prices around Europe this week! Real Madrid host Leganes with the home side fully expected to win by the market. Los Blancos are trading as short as 1.17 with Leganes 20.0 and the draw is 9.8 at the time of writing. Real Madrid fans would have been glued to the Barcelona game on Thursday night to see where they stood coming into this game; we’ve had quite a few swings in the La Liga title race so far this season, and at the moment it’s Real Madrid that have work to do. It’s fair to say that anything bar a routine win for Real here would be a massive shock – Leganes are sitting in the relegation zone and their under-lining numbers make for some pretty grim reading too. They have the joint-worst attacking figure with an average xG created of 0.98 – as I said above with Espanyol, one of only two sides with an average xG created under 1.0 this season. Like Espanyol too, Leganes have been very poor at the back as well – they have the joint-third worst defensive figure – put everything together and it’s no surprise that they are sitting in the relegation zone.
When the sides met back in November, Real Madrid ran out smooth 3-0 winners away from home. Now they have home advantage, it’s hard to see anything bar a comfortable win again. We’ll have to look around the side markets for some value here – I feel this game is about how many goals Real will score rather than will they win. Real are trading -1.51 to cover the 1.5 goal handicap and 2.25 to cover the 2.5 goal line. Both Teams Not To Score is also worthy of consideration here at 1.8, which is the most appealing bet in my opinion. I know the worry is if Real take a two or three goal lead, they could easily just make the game exceptionally open and concede a sloppy goal, but Leganes are so limited in attack the Real Madrid clean sheet is too big to ignore at 1.8. At home, Real have an average xG conceded of only 1.07, and they are coming up against one of the weakest sides in the La Liga. I’m very happy with Both Teams Not To Score.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.8 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/ReaLeg
