The big guns in Spain will all be hoping to back up opening day victories on Matchday 2 this weekend. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla are all on the road as they prepare to take on Athletic Bilbao, Levante and Getafe respectively, while reigning champions Atletico Madrid entertain Elche at Wanda Metropolitano.
Check out our betting overview for the Matchday 2 fixtures in Spain below, or visit our dedicated Spanish La Liga section which includes in depth betting previews for the weekend’s feature games plus our Spanish La Liga outright tips.
Saturday’s La Liga predictions
Alaves vs Mallorca
Best bet – Draw – ⭐
Mallorca marked their return to La Liga with a decent 1-1 draw against Real Betis at Son Moix last weekend and Luis Garcia’s side look capable of earning another point when they travel to Mendizorroza to face Alaves this Saturday.
Los Piratas found themselves hanging on late in the piece after taking a first half lead through Brian Olivan, but a positive result against one of the top six contenders should give Garcia’s charges plenty of confidence for this trip to the Basque Country.
Mallorca lost just four from 21 on the road last term en route to promotion, drawing seven, and another stalemate seems on Matchday 2. Alaves drew six of their home starts in 2020/21 (W6, L7) and they’ll be keen to get something on the board here after being swatted aside 1-4 by Real Madrid last Sunday.
Espanyol vs Villarreal
Best bet – Draw – ⭐
Both of these sides kicked off the La Liga campaign with 0-0 draws last weekend and the spoils could be shared when they square off at RCDE Stadium on Matchday 2.
Segunda champions Espanyol turned in a solid display at Osasuna to get up and running and they’ll be hopeful of going one better this Saturday back on home soil. Periquitos won 15 of their 21 starts at RCDE Stadium last term en route to promotion (D3, L3), though Villarreal represent the toughest opposition they’ve faced here in some time.
The Yellow Submarine were a tad wasteful in front of goal on Matchday 1 as they failed to break down Granada at Estadio de la Ceramica, but it looked as though there would be plenty more to come from Unai Emery’s side.
Nonetheless, they won just seven of their 19 away trips last season (D7, L5), so a draw is the tentative shout for Saturday’s clash in Catalunya.
Granada vs Valencia
Best bet – Under 2.5 goals – ⭐⭐
Neither of these sides can be confidently opposed after strong battling displays on the opening weekend and we could be set for a tight, low scoring encounter at Los Carmenes on Matchday 2.
The tenacity instilled into Getafe by Pepe Bordalas over the past five seasons was immediately apparent in Valencia’s display against Los Azulones at Mestalla last Friday, as Los Che grafted their way to a 1-0 success over Bordalas’ former club, despite playing the majority of the game with ten men.
Granada proved equally plucky though under their new manager Robert Moreno, toughing out a goalless stalemate at Villarreal with a performance far from in keeping with their largely woeful efforts on the road last term.
With both teams looking solid but perhaps lacking up top, under 2.5 is the call for the action in Andalusia.
Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona
Best bet – Barcelona win – ⭐⭐
Barcelona displayed no ill-effects in attack following the departure of Lionel Messi when beating Real Sociedad 4-2 last weekend and Ronald Koeman’s side look set to overpower Basque opposition again when they face Athletic Bilbao at San Mames this Saturday.
Danish hitman Martin Brathwaite was at the double for Barca who were scintillating going forward at Camp Nou on Matchday 1, as the Catalans rendered a decent Sociedad outfit largely helpless for well over an hour.
Athletic Club have now failed to score in four La Liga starts following their goalless stalemate at Elche on Matchday 1 and Marcelino’s men were perhaps a shade fortunate to leave Estadio Martinez Valero with a point. Bilbao ended last term with three consecutive defeats and on the evidence of last weekend, are a side looking devoid of confidence and creativity.
We were hesitant to back Barca for their La Liga opener based on how they may have responded to Messi’s exit, but a combination of their emphatic performance and Bilbao’s problems mean an away win is the clear pick for Saturday’s action at San Mames.
Sunday’s La Liga predictions with 10/1 treble
Real Sociedad vs Rayo Vallecano
Best bet – Real Sociedad -1 handicap – ⭐⭐
Rayo Vallecano were easily swept aside by Sevilla on the opening weekend and the newly promoted side could face a similar fate at Anoeta this Sunday against Real Sociedad.
Andoni Iraola’s men were outclassed 3-0 at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Matchday 1, and it’s difficult to envisage them getting anything in the Basque Country this weekend based on how that fixture played out and their underwhelming sum of eight wins from 21 away trips in Segunda last term (D6, L7).
Last season’s fifth placed side Sociedad represent similar opposition for Los Franjirrojos here, and while this weekend’s hosts were outgunned 4-2 by Barca at Camp Nou in their opener, they should comfortably get up and running in this contest to extend their winning home run in La Liga to four games.
Atletico Madrid vs Elche
Best bet – Atletico Madrid win to nil – ⭐⭐
A fine double salvo from Angel Correa got Atletico Madrid’s title defence off to a winning against Celta Vigo last weekend and Diego Simeone’s side are fancied to follow-up that success and keep a clean sheet when they welcome Elche to Wanda Metropolitano this Sunday.
Atleti have won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams, keeping clean sheets in six, and a home win to nil looks the clear pick for this Sunday’s action in the capital.
The hosts won 15 of their 19 La Liga starts at Wanda in 2020/21 (D3, L1), keeping clean sheets in ten, while Elche have now failed to strike in four of their last six top flight outings.
Fran Escriba’s visitors won’t go down without a fight in this one, though they’re unlikely to cause Atleti’s imperious backline many issues – even despite Mario Hermoso’s absence following his red card in Galicia on Matchday 1.
Levante vs Real Madrid
Best bet – Real Madrid win and both teams to score – ⭐⭐
Real Madrid were resounding 1-4 winners at Alaves on the opening day, and we expect Los Blancos to clinch a similar result when they take on Levante at Ciutat de Valencia this Sunday.
Los Blancos are odds-on to prevail again on Matchday 2 which is perfectly fair based on their record of 13 wins and six draws from 20 away trips since the beginning of 2020/21, while they’ve also won nine of their last 14 visits to Ciutat de Valencia (D3, L2).
Punters can enhance those odds though by backing a Real win and both teams to score, which has been the case in three of Los Blancos’ last five league outings and in five of their last ten starts on the road.
Both teams have netted in Levante’s last five La Liga matches following their 1-1 draw against Cadiz on Matchday 1, so it’s worth chancing the hosts to bag a goal in this one, for all that we think Ancelotti’s side will prove far too strong.
Monday’s La Liga predictions
Getafe vs Sevilla
Best bet – Sevilla win – ⭐⭐
Sevilla have won the last four meetings between these sides including a bloodless 3-0 success in February, and we’re backing that trend to continue at the Coliseum this Monday.
Los Palanganas began their campaign with an impressive 3-0 home victory against Rayo Vallecano and look a huge price to follow up here at odds-against based on the recent head to head and their ten wins from 19 away trips last term.
Getafe limped to a 15th place finish in 2020/21 and could be in for a real struggle this season under new boss Jose Gonzalez. They went down 1-0 at Valencia on Matchday 1 despite holding a man advantage for most of the contest and it’s hard to see them landing a glove on the Andalusians in this clash.
Osasuna vs Celta Vigo
Best bet – Draw – ⭐
Matchday 2 in La Liga draws to a close in Pamplona, and we should see a close contest between Osasuna and Celta Vigo at Estadio El Sadar.
The bookmakers can barely split the sides and it’s easy to see why, with Osasuna losing just one of their last seven home starts (W3, D3) following last week’s goalless stalemate with Espanyol, and Celta impressing in their opener despite going down 1-2 against champions Atletico Madrid at Balaidos.
The Galicians could be a surprise package this season and they ended the last campaign with five wins from six, though we think they’ll have to settle for a point in this fixture as they did on eight occasions on the road last term.
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