LA LIGA: The Ultra previews the opening weekend of the new La Liga season as Espanyol host Atletico Madrid on Sunday with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ESPANYOL V ATLETICO MADRID
8.30pm: The focus on Sunday from Europe is still on La Liga on Betdaq Exchange Exchange! La Liga have started a little early than Serie A and the Bundesliga this season, and Sunday sees Espanyol host Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone and his Atletico side have the immense task of trying to live with Real Madrid and Barcelona again this season, and to be honest it would be a surprise if they could seriously compete this season. They were clear in third last season, but they were a long way off the top two. The problem was pretty obvious; they clearly didn’t create enough chances and that’s something Diego Simeone will need to improve this season.
Atletico finished last season with an average xG created of just 1.38 – that figure was the sixth best in La Liga. Miles behind Barcelona at 1.91 and Real Madrid at 1.8. The likes of Real Betis, Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano actually created more than Atletico. Obviously to finish third, they did over-perform in front of goal. They also over-performed at the back too; their average xG conceded was 1.12 but they actually conceded less than a goal a game on average. There’s a lot to work on this season to be honest; those figures just won’t cut it – 12 points off Barcelona probably flattered them when you look at the under-lining numbers.
It’ll be very interesting to see what type of performance we get from Atletico here; Espanyol were very average last season, and this is definitely a fixture that Atletico should be winning. It’s no surprise to see them come into the game as the odds on favourites – Atletico are trading 1.6 with Espanyol 7.2 and the draw is 4.0 at the time of writing. Espanyol were heavily involved in the relegation battle last season – with a number of other clubs to be fair – and they ended up finishing two points off the bottom three; a win on the final day shot them up to 14th!
There’s a lot to worry about this season though for Espanyol – they finished last season with the second worst attacking figure. They also had the second worst defensive figure; there really weren’t many positives looking at Espanyol last season apart from the fact that they were able to grind out enough results to stay up. Their home form was a big part of that; second last on the away table, but they finished 10th in the home table. That’s why we are getting Atletico as big as 1.6 here – but there is a massive gulf in class here. Espanyol are a side I want to be against this season, and while obviously there are concerns with Atletico heading into this season in terms of what they can do; for today the 1.6 is too big to ignore to get the job done against Espanyol.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Atletico Madrid to beat Espanyol at 1.6 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/LLEsAt
