Real Betis vs Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid head to Seville this weekend to face Real Betis, but it’s fair to say the La Liga leaders are not the main draw in Spain this weekend.
This clash will be overshadowed 24 hours earlier by El Clasico, as Real Madrid and Barcelona prepare to do battle. And after a poor run of form Atletico have been chased down by their two big rivals, Barca are just a point behind Atleti while Real Madrid are two further back in the third position.
So Diego Simeone must fashion a win for his side against a Betis team which is bang in form, in the hope of staying top and putting some distance between them and at least one of their rivals. Should Barcelona win or draw in El Clasico on Saturday then Atletico will already have been knocked off the top of La Liga when they step out at the Estadio Benito Villamarin on Sunday.
Talking Points
Europa League beckons Real Betis
Betis’ La Liga 2021 results, since the turn of the year, have been highly impressive as they have turned in eight wins, three draws and two defeats, a run of form which has seen them rise to sixth in the La Liga table, alongside Real Sociedad and Villarreal on 46 points. These three teams are entrenched in the Europa League places, 12 points behind fourth-placed Sevilla and nine above eighth-placed Celta Vigo.
Head coach Manuel Pellegrini has put together a well-organised team with plenty of creative flairs, with Sergio Canales contributing seven goals and seven assists, striker Borja Iglesias’ seven goals and tricky winger Nabil Fekir has made five assists. Fekir was on target in a Betis’ last game at the Benito Villamarin, a 2-0 victory over Levante.
Real Betis players celebrate after Borja Iglesias score their first goal against Getafe
This has been an outstanding campaign for Los Verdiblancos, having finished last season in 15th place and they have picked up more points from the last ten games than their visitors this weekend, but they have lost to two top four sides in Sevilla and Barcelona, a fact which will not be lost on Simeone.
Atletico feeling the heat
That said, Los Rojiblancos were badly off-colour in their own 1-0 defeat to Sevilla last week so he needs to pick his team up, and quickly if they are to get their title challenge back on track. They were heavily odds on to secure a first La Liga title in seven years but the wheels have fallen off in recent weeks and they have won just three times in the last ten games in all competitions, a run which saw them crash out of the Champions League to Chelsea. While Atleti have dropped 14 points over the last ten league games, Real Madrid have dropped seven and Barca just two, and the very latest La Liga 2021 betting odds have already installed the Blaugrana as odds on favourites to take the title back to Catalonia.
Former Barca man Luis Suarez has had a great first season at the Wanda Metropolitano, scoring 19 goals, but he is struggling to get the service he needs and has bagged only three goals from the last nine La Liga games. And with Joao Felix and Moussa Dembele sidelined the pressure to score is squarely on the Uruguayan’s shoulders, as well as those of Marcos Llorente.
Suarez was on target in a narrow victory over Alaves recently but that win was far from convincing. Simeone would bite your hand off for a repeat of that result on Sunday though.
History
The head to heads are comfortably in Los Rojiblancos’ favour with 23 wins to Real Betis’ 12, while there have been 13 draws from the last 48 meetings.
Atletico won the reverse fixture at the Wanda Metropolitano 2-0 thanks to goals from Llorente and Suarez, who scored in injury time after Betis had been reduced to ten men following the sending off of Martin Montoya.
In fact, Simeone’s side has won the last three clashes with Betis, but the hosts are in good form at home, winning their last three fixtures.
Betting Tip
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Real Betis vs Atletico Madrid | Under 2.25 @ 1.89 |
| April 12, 03:00 (GMT+8) |
The pre-match SBOTOP odds tell us this game could quite easily end up with any of the three outcomes. Atleti are at 2.38 to win and 3.02 to get a draw, while Betis are at 2.87 to continue their successful run.
But one thing is for sure, it’s going to be a tight and tense affair, and I can’t see a glut of goals at either end of the pitch.
In the last six games, both teams have participated in five matches where two or fewer goals were yielded, a 3-2 victory for Betis over Alaves and a 2-1 win for Atleti over Bilbao being the exceptions.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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