La Liga Betting: Make Balaídos your base for a big value goals bet

Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid 
Saturday 8th April, 15:15

Real Madrid played a second-string on Wednesday night when beating Leganes 4-2 to keep their two-point cushion atop of La Liga intact.

The cavalry will return for Saturday's cross-city derby against Atletico, with Zinedine Zidane recalling the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale to his starting XI. Midweek hat-trick hero Alvaro Morata will drop to the bench.

Los Blancos remain focused on their objective of clinching the league title for only the second time in eight years and despite their record-breaking run of scoring in 51 consecutive matches, there's still little sense of security surrounding the table-toppers right now.

Madrid haven't been beaten at home in La Liga since February 2016 - rivals Atletico were the last side to win at the Bernebeu - but on too many occasions the European champions have appeared defensively vulnerable.

It's just three clean sheets in 18 outings for Los Blancos and in eight of those encounters Real have shipped at least two goals. With Rafael Varane absent through injury, it's hard to find the faith in Zidane's men shutting their neighbours out.

Atletico make the short trip to the north of the Spanish capital on the back of a 1-0 triumph over Real Sociedad. Diego Simeone's men should have won by at least four in midweek and once again they're starting to exude the sense of menace and purpose they do at their best.

Los Colchoneros have claimed five wins on the spin, conceding a solitary strike. The visitors boast the league's best defence and have taken maximum points away from the Bernabeu in each of their past three La Liga showdowns here.

Kevin Gameiro is an injury doubt but I still expect Atletico to get on the scoresheet here, making the 1.76 available on Both Teams To Score an attractive proposition. The selection has paid out in 21/29 (72%) Real Madrid home league matches and 10/15 (67%) at the Bernabeu.

Recommended Bet
Both Teams To Score @ 1.76

Malaga v Barcelona
Saturday 8th April, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

Malaga have earned a reputation as Barcelona's bogey team in recent seasons. The Costa del Sol outfit have avoided defeat in three of their past five head-to-heads with the Catalans, including a 0-0 they achieved at the Camp Nou earlier this campaign.

The caveat is that Los Boquerones required an inspired performance from goalkeeper Carlos Kameni that day in November against a Barca side missing both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Malaga have since fallen into a state of disrepair. Their midweek win at Sporting Gijon pushed them eight points clear of the dreaded drop zone but it was just the second victory in 17 for Saturday night's hosts and the first achieved under new head coach Michel.

Michel is the third man to take the reigns at La Roselada this term but, with five losses in six here and no clean sheet against a visiting side since October, it's difficult to see how the hosts can overcome a rejuvenated Barcelona outfit.

Sure, Recio and Juankar are available again for selection after suspension, and Barca will be without the banned Gerard Pique and Ivan Rakitic, plus the likely rested Andres Iniesta, but Malaga have W2-D4-L14 when hosting the big-two since 2011/12.

Barcelona arrive having racked up nine triumphs from 10 La Liga matches, seven of which saw the Blaugrana lead at the interval. Luis Enrique's charges have scored at least three goals in five of their past six and were sensational when cutting Sevilla to ribbons in the opening half hour of their midweek win.

The visitors have W22-D4-L2 in away league encounters with bottom-half clubs under Luis Enrique, 20 of which saw the Catalans lead at half-time. Both trends make the 1.94 available on Barcelona/Barcelona a little too big to ignore.

Recommended Bet
Barcelona/Barcelona 1.94

Celta Vigo v Eibar
Sunday 9th April, 15:15
Live on Sky Sports

Celta Vigo are expected to make widespread changes ahead of their Europa League tie against Genk on Thursday night but don't let that put you off backing an enjoyable and high-scoring Sunday contest from Balaídos.

Los Celestes are La Liga's great entertainers with head coach Eduardo Berizzo insisting on an attractive and attacking style of play. Celta look to get the ball forward fast, play with plenty of width and always with an intention of scoring goals.

The Vigo-based club tend to produce their best work on home soil and the same could be said for goals with Celta scoring in all bar two of their last 12 home fixtures, eight of which saw goals at both ends.

Indeed, the Galicians have recorded just two clean sheets at Balaídos this term with 11 of those 14 outings featuring at least three goals with an average total of over 3.30 goals per-game here making the 11/10 on Over 2.5 Goals and Both Teams To Score appeal already.

Eibar arrive having claimed back-to-back victories to take them within striking distance of the European qualification places in La Liga - a remarkable achievement for a club so small in Spain.

In their last away day, Los Armeros turned over Villarreal 3-2 and their 3-1 victory over Las Palmas on Thursday means each of their most recent six outings have featured winning Both Teams To Score selections, whilst nine of their last 13 have produced Over 2.5 Goals winners.

Only Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Malaga have fired in more shots than Eibar this season and the visitors have only failed to score in five of their 30 matches this term, including only twice in 14 games as guests.

The Basques have seen a huge 18/30 (60%) of their league fixtures provide profit for Over 2.5 Goals backers, including 9/14 (64%) on the road with those La Liga away days averaging over 3.20 goals per-game.

Collectively, Over 2.5 Goals has paid out in 20/28 (71%) of the two teams' home and away games whilst BTTS has proven profitable in 19/28 (68%) of the same sample. Combine the two for a big value goals bet.

Recommended Bet
Over 2.5 Goals and Both Teams To Score [11/10]