SUNDAY LA LIGA: Our football tipster The Ultra previews Sunday’s games between ESPANYOL v SEVILLA, VALENCIA v BARCELONA, DORTMUND v GLADBACH and ATHLETIC BILBAO v REAL SOCIEDAD all previewed with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ESPANYOL V SEVILLA
1pm We have another fantastic Sunday afternoon around Europe on BETDAQ Betting Exchange! We have some cracking games from La Liga and the Bundesliga, and we also have some fascinating markets to get stuck into too. We start early in La Liga with Espanyol hosting Sevilla. After a few disappointing weeks, Sevilla finally closed the gap a little on Real Madrid last weekend as Real dropped points and Sevilla won. Sevilla had plenty of chances to close the gap in recent weeks but they put three draws together at the wrong time against Valencia, Celta Vigo and Osasuna – three sides they should be beating. While Real were dropping points too, Sevilla lost that chance to really put the pressure on – having said that I doubt Real Madrid will fear Sevilla – but it would have been nice if we had a close title race. Sevilla just have to keep winning games and hope that Real slip up somewhere along the line – they have to win games like this if they are going to challenge for the title, and this is a reasonably tricky fixture.
I’ve previewed quite a few Espanyol games over recent weeks because they’ve had a lot of TV slots. You can’t blame the TV companies picking their games because you never know what you’re going to get with Espanyol! They are the most hit-and-miss side in La Liga – they managed a 2-2 draw with Barcelona last weekend after losing to Athletic Bilbao, Real Betis and Elche, and also failing to beat Cadiz in the relegation zone in the run up to that game. When you look through their xG figures you see figures like 2.25 and then 0.36! They are a lot more comfortable at home though compared to away from home, and I feel this will be a cagey game. Sevilla are always a little cagey, and tend to grind out results rather than blow teams away. In the match odds market, I would definitely lean towards Sevilla at 2.28 but under 2.5 goals looks the value here at 1.68. Three of the last four meetings between the sides has saw unders collect, and I expect Sevilla to grind out a 1-0 or 2-0 win.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 1.7 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQEspSev
VALENCIA V BARCELONA
3.15pm We stay in La Liga next as Valencia host Barcelona. Valencia have been having a better season than last season but they have had a pretty tough fixture list recently and ran into problems. They arrive into this fixture with a win in their last six, but they have had to play Real Madrid, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid in that run. They managed to pick up a 1-1 draw against Sevilla but they lost to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid while conceding seven goals in the process. They will be glad to meet Barcelona with home advantage, and they will know that they’ve never had a better chance to get a result against Barcelona given all their issues. Barcelona had another mini-setback midweek in the Europa League with a 1-1 draw against Napoli. They had home advantage, and are on the backfoot going into the second leg. I have to say though Barcelona look to be improving – you can see it in their xG figures over the last few weeks. The Napoli game might have finished 1-1, but Barcelona created an xG of 2.14 and they have put together a nice unbeaten run to steady the ship; they are even back in the top four now too.
So, things are improving for Barcelona. Can you trust them? The answer to that question is still no but it’s all about picking the right times to back them in my opinion. I believe that this game is a good time to back them – you can see the signs of progress going forward looking at their xG figures and Valencia have been conceding plenty of chances recently. I fully accept the fact that Barcelona are still poor at the back and still have a lot of work to do, but we are getting odds of 2.08 which is very appealing. Valencia have conceded xG figures like 2.18, 2.93, 4.05 and 2.25 recently – Barcelona can take full advantage of them at the back here. Barcelona have had issues away this season there’s no getting away from that, but it was nice to see them grind out wins away to Mallorca and Alaves recently, and I’m happy to just limit stakes but take the 2.08.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Barcelona to beat Valencia at 2.08 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQVlnBar
DORTMUND V GLADBACH
4.30pm Next we move to the Bundesliga for a cracker as Dortmund host Gladbach. Dortmund were involved in one of the biggest shocks this week as they lost 4-2 to Rangers in the Europa League. That really puts them on the backfoot in that tie as they had home advantage, but they will still fancy their chances of getting through given there’s no away goal rule anymore – they have plenty of work to do however! I suppose given the tactics of Dortmund and the open way they play the game those results are going to happen from time to time, but they seem to be happening more often lately! They come into this game on an up-and-down run with three wins and three losses from their last six games and they’ve all been packed with goals too. It looks like their title challenge is as good as over given these setbacks, but Gladbach are having a terrible season and you can fully understand why Dortmund are odds on here. Indeed, I was surprised to see them trading as big as 1.67 when I clicked into the market.
Gladbach started the weekend down in 13th and it’s been an incredible drop off for them over the last two seasons. They finished in the Top Four in 2019/20, then 8th in 2021/22 and now this season – it’s been quite a dramatic drop. This games absolutely screams goals, and the market is expect goals too with over 2.5 goals trading as short as 1.45. Even with those odds, I couldn’t put anyone off given the openness of both sides, and surely we’ll see an end-to-end game here. Dortmund have had an average of over four goals per game in the Bundesliga this season, so I couldn’t put anyone off over 3.5 goals at 2.04. That being said, given Gladbach have been so poor this season I can’t see past Dortmund at 1.67. Those odds are just too big to ignore given the gulf in class between the sides, Dortmund have been creating chances for fun recently and I know they will play an open game again but they can outclass this Gladbach side. The 1.67 is big enough for a Max Bet.
The Ultra Says:
Five points win Dortmund to beat Gladbach at 1.67 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQDorGld
ATHLETIC BILBAO V REAL SOCIEDAD
8pm We move back to La Liga to finish a fantastic Sunday as Athletic Bilbao host Real Sociedad. This should be a good game, but you have to suggest that both sides might not be fully focused on this game. They both have massive games coming up with Athletic Bilbao in the semi-final of the Copa Del Rey and Real Sociedad in the Europa League. I know the Bilbao game isn’t until the start of March but they have been focused on the Copa for three seasons now and are aiming for their third final in a row. It would be wonderful if they could win it, and they pretty much can’t achieve anything in La Liga so they might as well aim for that. While Real Sociedad are in a reasonably good position after their first leg with RB Leipzig ended with a 2-2 draw – they now have home advantage in the second leg. I have to say this game is a little tricky to call because neither side have been playing outstanding football lately. Bilbao have had all their good performances in the Cup, they’ve knocked out Barcelona and Real Madrid but then they lose to the likes of Mallorca last weekend in La Liga.
Bilbao haven’t set the world on fire at home either this season. They are towards the bottom of the home form table, and although you can clearly see that Real Sociedad are struggling to create a lot of chances at the moment I still feel the 2.48 is too short on Bilbao. We have a reasonably open market, but I would actually have it more open! I would have the sides priced a little closer together – the draw makes a lot of appeal in what should be a very tight game at 3.0 but I feel the value play here is the Athletic Bilbao lay to also have to Sociedad win on your side too. We’ve seen this time and time again from Bilbao at this stage of the season over the last few years – they are already gearing up for that Copa Del Rey second leg – they drew the first leg 1-1 and are away from home in the second leg. Nevertheless this should be a good game between two pretty even sides, but it’s the home lay for me at limited stakes.
The Ultra Says:
One point lay (liability) Athletic Bilbao to beat Real Sociedad at 2.48 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQBilSoc
