La Liga Betting: Sparks could fly when Real Sociedad host Real Madrid

Getafe v Barcelona
Saturday, 15:15
Live on Betfair Live Video

Crisis? What crisis? It's only a couple of weeks since reports of Barcelona's demise were circulating, but on the evidence of Tuesday night's win over Juventus, the Catalans are once again in rude health, on the pitch if not in the board room.

Inspired by an electric Lionel Messi, Barça were borderline unplayable at times, puncturing the Juve backline three times to achieve some minor revenge for last season's Champions League defeat. Throw in a promising full debut for Ousmane Dembélé and you had a heartening night at the Camp Nou.

Domestically, too, things are looking up: Ernesto Valverde's men breezed past Espanyol in the derby last weekend and already have a four-point advantage over Real Madrid. They will be confident of keeping up the pressure when they travel to play newly-promoted Getafe on Saturday afternoon.

The Azulones have made a solid enough start to life back in the big time, holding Athletic Club on opening weekend and grinding out a win against Leganés last time out. They're not afraid to do the ugly stuff - no team in the division has committed more fouls than their 55 thus far - but are perhaps lacking a little class in attack, which showed in the 1-0 home loss to Sevilla.

Barcelona should be full of confidence and we'll be backing them to break through before the interval, as they have in three of their four successive wins.

Recommended Bet
Back Barcelona/Barcelona HT/FT at 1.80

Las Palmas v Athletic Club
Sunday, 17:30
Live on Sky Sports Football and Betfair Live Video

Athletic Club have made an impressive start to life under José Ángel Ziganda, not least at the back: after a helter-skelter Europa League qualifier against Panathinaikos, they have now kept five consecutive clean sheets in all competitions. At the other end, Iker Muniaín, Iñaki Williams and Aritz Aduriz have all shown sparks of life.

We like Athletic's chances against Las Palmas, who started the season with losses to Valencia and Atlético Madrid. They picked up their first win last weekend, but that was against a poor Málaga side and there's a good chance the Canary Islanders will be in a relegation battle this term.

Recommended Bet
Back Athletic Club draw no bet at 1.93

Real Sociedad v Real Madrid
Sunday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports Football and Betfair Live Video

Real Madrid got their Champions League campaign started with a businesslike win over APOEL in the week, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos seeing them home at the Bernabéu. Yet that result won't entirely steady nerves that have just begun to jangle after a middling start to the season.

Madrid have already dropped points at home to Valencia and Levante, meaning the go into Jornada 4 all the way down in seventh. Then there is the growing list of absentees: Mateo Kovačić and Karim Benzema are the latest additions to the injury list, while Marcelo and Ronaldo are both suspended this weekend. With Gareth Bale still struggling for form and no Álvaro Morata to spruce up the attack, Los Blancos look surprisingly short of firepower just a few weeks into the season.

Zinedine Zidane will hope that Marco Asensio is fit to return here after his depilation disaster, and can draw solace from Madrid's recent record against Real Sociedad: the side from the capital have won 16 of the last 20 league games against the Basques, including all of the last five.

La Real have made a perfect start to the season, however, racking up ten goals in their three games so far. Eusebio Sacristán rotated a touch for the Europa League game against Roseborg on Thursday, but his side still had more than enough quality to claim a 4-0 win. In Juanmi, Willian José, Xabi Prieto and new addition Adnan Januzaj, they have the players to trouble their visitors.

Both teams to score is short at 1.51, so instead we'll take a chance on this one being a thriller by backing both teams to score in both halves.

Recommended Bet
Back both teams to score in both halves at 7/1