THURSDAY LA LIGA: The Ultra previews Thursday’s La Liga return with the matches between REAL BETIS v ATHLETIC BILBAO and ATLETICO MADRID v ELCHE both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
REAL BETIS V ATHLETIC BILBAO
6.15pm La Liga is back on BETDAQ Betting Exchange after the Christmas break as action resumes on Thursday the 29th! The European leagues have given their teams a little bit more time to recover after the World Cup compared to the FA in England. I was shocked to see Carabao Cup games played as early at the 20th December! Guardiola was totally right in his comments; some of his team weren’t even back from the World Cup. I have to say I was surprised to even see La Liga games between Christmas and New Year, but that’s the pressure a winter World Cup has put on their domestic leagues. They also came back before Christmas with Copa del Rey fixtures! The Bundesliga gave their teams a long break, but then they have less teams so there’s less Matchday’s to get through. Nevertheless, we have some decent games this week to enjoy. We kick off the action with Real Betis hosting Athletic Bilbao, and this should be an interesting game. With Sevilla starting the season so badly, and even sitting down in the relegation zone while the World Cup was on – that has definitely opened up the door to a top four spot, and Real Betis would have been one of the sides to benefit from that given they finished fifth last season and won the Copa del Rey.
They actually sit behind Athletic Bilbao at the moment though, as Bilbao have made an excellent start to the season and they sat in that fourth position during the World Cup. They will obviously be under immense pressure to stay there, especially with Atletico Madrid sitting behind them, but they will likely expect Real Sociedad, who are in third, to fall out of the top four too. That 3-0 loss to Valencia really cost Real Betis before the World Cup when you look at the top four race, but they were poor and deserved to lose. Betis have definitely been below their level from last season, and at the moment they are marginally conceding more chances than they are creating. Although they were a natural top four contender I don’t think they are playing well enough to move up a spot from last season. Athletic Bilbao have been playing much better football compared to Real Betis this season – they are scoring nearly two goals per game and conceding one – it’s no surprise they are sitting in the top four with those figures. I feel they can get a result here, we have a pretty open market, and I’m happy to lay Betis at 2.82 – it’s nice to have the draw on our side, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bilbao actually win.
The Ultra Says:
Two points lay (liability) Real Betis to beat Athletic Bilbao at 2.82 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/BetAth
ATLETICO MADRID V ELCHE
8.30pm We finish the evening with Atletico Madrid hosting Elche. There’s no other way of putting this than to say that this is a must win game for Atletico Madrid. They sat outside the top four during the World Cup, and went into the World Cup within a win in their final five games in all competitions. It’s already been a terrible season for them as they crashed out of the Champions League at the Group stage, and even finished last in their Group so don’t get to go into the Europa League. To miss out on the top four and then Champions League football would be a shocking result – especially with Sevilla being so poor this season and sitting in the relegation zone which is hard to believe. Elche start the season again sitting rock bottom of the table, and they are now adrift. They’ve only managed four points from their 14 games, haven’t managed a win yet, and they are seven points away from Cadiz and Sevilla above them. It would be a remarkable turnaround if they survived this season, but the reality is there’s no real coming back from this position. The amount of effort to even get in touch again would be massive, let alone go past. With Atletico already dropping plenty of points this season, that’s why I’m saying this is a must win game for them – they simply can’t afford to be dropping points at home to Elche.
The market is very confident on the home win, with Atletico Madrid trading as short as 1.25 at the time of writing. That’s one of the shortest prices in La Liga this week, and to be honest it’s hard to see past an Atletico win here. I wouldn’t be rushing to back them at the odds given they clearly haven’t been firing this season, but Elche are a very limited side so it’s going to be a home win here. The best option is to look around the side markets for some value in my opinion, and with Elche scoring so little and conceding so much, it might be one way traffic here. Elche are conceding an xG of 2.6 per game in La Liga this season on average which is shockingly high – there’s that saying of you don’t win many games conceding two goals, well what about three! I’m going to keep stakes small because Atletico aren’t firing, but the 2.94 -2.5 goals looks worth a small investment in what should be a smooth win for the home side.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Atletico Madrid -2.5 goals to beat Elche at 2.94 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AtlElc
