La Liga Tips: Real Madrid will make another fast start

La Liga Tips: Real Madrid will make another fast start

Real Madrid are making a habit of leading at the break and Dan Fitch is banking on that trend continuing against Granada, as he previews the midweek La Liga action.

La Liga leaders a big price to win again

Real Sociedad 3.5 v Atletico Madrid 2.48; The Draw 3.2
Tuesday 22 December, 18:45
Live on LaLigaTV and Betfair Live Video

Third placed Real Sociedad host the La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, with three points separating the clubs.

Atletico have three games in hand on Sociedad and two on Real Madrid, who they lead on goal difference. At the weekend Atletico bounced back from their first defeat of the La Liga season against Real, when they beat Elche 3-1 at home.

Sociedad lost their second successive game. While losing 2-1 at Barcelona last week was no shock, their defeat at Levante by the same scoreline on Saturday, was. Across all competitions, Sociedad are now without a win in eight games, albeit with the majority ending as draws (D6 L2).

Given the respective form of the two teams, the 2.48 available for Atletico is a big price. The worry is the amount of games that Sociedad draw, so back Atletico in the Draw No Bet market at 1.71.

Barca travel to improving Valladolid

Real Valladolid 7.8 v Barcelona 1.46; The Draw 5.0
Tuesday 22 December, 21:00
Live on LaLigaTV and Betfair Live Video

Barcelona have never been far away from another setback this season, which gives hope for struggling Real Valladolid.

After consecutive home wins against Levante and Real Sociedad, Barca drew 2-2 at the Camp Nou with Valencia over the weekend. At a time when their away form is so unreliable, Barcelona cannot afford such slip-ups at home. Barca have not won any of their last four La Liga games on the road (D1 L3).

Real Valladolid are in 18th position in La Liga, but their fortunes have really started to turn around. After failing to win any of their first eight league games (D3 L5), Valladolid have won three of their last six (D2 L1), with only Atletico Madrid inflicting a defeat.

At the weekend they fought back to claim a valuable 1-1 draw at Sevilla. With Barcelona conceding in each of their last four away games, both teams to score should land at 1.83.

Madrid are fast starters

Real Madrid 1.36 v Granada 9.6; The Draw 5.7
Wednesday 23 December, 18:45
Live on LaLigaTV and Betfair Live Video

Real Madrid will be looking to continue their fine form when they host Granada on Wednesday.

After an erratic start to the season, Real Madrid have finally found some consistency. Across all competitions they have now won five straight games, which includes victories against tough opponents such as Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach and Atletico Madrid.

At the weekend they won 3-1 at Eibar, with the game effectively over within the first quarter of an hour, after goals from Karim Benzema and Luka Modric. With Atletico holding the advantage of having two games in hand, Real can't afford to let these high standards slip.

Granada are also in form, beating Elche and Real Betis over their last two games without conceding. It's hard to see them keeping Real Madrid from scoring for long, with the hosts leading at the break in each of their last four games.

Real Madrid are 2.0 to win half-time/full-time.