La Liga Matchday 2 kicks off on Friday with a full slate of soccer this weekend all across Spain.
Barcelona and Real Madrid both play their first home games of the season. Athletic Club heads to the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium to face Barça in the headliner of the slate on Saturday.
Los Blancos looks to bounce back from the disappointing draw in their opener by defeating Valladolid on Sunday. The other big match of the weekend is Atlético Madrid hosting Girona in the final game on the schedule later in the day.
Only one team failed to score in an exciting opening weekend. So, let’s dive back into the action with our La Liga Matchday 2 best bets.
La Liga Predictions, La Liga Picks
Action Network's La Liga Picks
In Friday’s top match, Sevilla and Villarreal meet at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium for what should be a game that includes goals.
If you start first with the hosts, both teams found the back of the net in 68% of Sevilla’s home fixtures last season. Only the Yellow Submarines had a higher number (79%).
Meanwhile, Villarreal’s road matches were known for goals last campaign. In fact, this same bet would have cashed in 79% of those games for the most in La Liga.
The Yellow Submarines defense also finished in the bottom four for most expected goals allowed away from home last season at 33.6, according to fbref.com.
Yes, both clubs sold their top strikers over the summer. However, they looked fine offensively in their openers, and I still don’t trust either attack.
The -150 price at bet365 is as low as I would take this line. If this is a bit too far for your liking, I also don’t hate the game to fly over the total of 2.5.
Pick: Both Teams to Score – Yes (-150 via bet365)
The draw at Mallorca was not how Madrid envisioned Kylian Mbappé’s league debut ending. Luckily for them, Los Blancos should get back on track with Valladolid coming to the Santiago Bernabéu.
The question is how do you want to back Real Madrid at home. While Carlo Ancelotti figures out how to use his attacking pieces, I still trust how he sets up the defense.
Going back to last season, Madrid ranked first in La Liga in xG allowed (14.9) and fourth in big scoring chances surrendered per match (1.5) at home.
The performances were especially bright against lesser opposition. In games against the bottom 10 at home, Ancelotti’s team shut out the opponent eight times, winning seven to cash this same bet.
This was all done without Thibaut Courtois for the season due to injury. With a veteran backline and arguably the best keeper in the world, I like Real Madrid to get back on track with a shutout win on Sunday.
Pick: Real Madrid Win to Nil (-110 via bet365)
Goals were the theme of the opening weekend, and I see another attacking match in this one to close out our La Liga match day 2 best bets.
If you go back to last week, we backed Atlético’s attack because of the new summer additions. Madrid signed Julián Alvarez from Manchester City to go with Villarreal’s Alexander Sørloth who just missed out on winning the Golden Boot in the league last campaign.
This was already a team under Diego Simeone who has become more expansive and free-flowing, especially at home. Simeone’s squad finished in the top three in La Liga in expected goals and big chances created at home last season.
The offensive output led to holes at the back, which meant that seven of nine games against the top 10 sides at home saw both teams score and at least three goals.
Meanwhile, Girona were also no stranger to goals on the road. This same play would have cashed in 6-of-9 against the same competition.
This same match finished with four goals on 4.7 xG back in April, and I like the plus-money price for it to happen again here.
