La Liga Betting: Black sabbath for Yellow Submarine

Villarreal boss Marcelino will bend over backwards for a result at the Vicente Calderon, but he is unlikely to get one

In a back-loaded La Liga weekend, Sunday night brings a clash of two in-form teams at the Vicente Calderon, where Tobias Gourlay sees only one outcome. The sabbath also brings a first Basque derby for David Moyes...

Almeria v Real Madrid
Friday 19:45 (Live on Sky Sports 5)
Almeria 20.019/1 Real 1.182/11 draw 9.08/1

Real Madrid's winning streak now stands at 19 in all competitions and 11 in La Liga. On the road, they have been winning at half time in 6/6 league wins. 

Last season was Almeria's first back in the top flight. Real won the head-to-heads by a combined score of 9-0.

Almeria's current form is dismal: they haven't won at the Juegos Mediterraneos all season; home and away, they've taken one point from a possible 21.

Under Francisco Rodriguez, the Andalusians conceded only a couple of first-half goals at home this term, but never encountered anyone operating at Real's level.

On Monday, they let in five at Eibar and that was the end for Francisco. New man Juan Martinez will struggle to turn anything around in time for Friday's game.

Recommended Bet
Back Real/Real @ 1.68/13

Valencia v Rayo Vallecano
Saturday 17:00 (Live on Sky Sports)
Valencia 1.528/15 Rayo 7.26/1 draw 4.77/2

Valencia have hit a sticky patch. They have scored just twice across the last four rounds of La Liga and not at all in their last two outings at the Mestalla.

Those two matches were against Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, however. This weekend's visitors might have won three times away from home this season, but they are not in the same class.

Rayo Vallecano are W3-D1-L0 visiting teams now in La Liga's bottom half, but have conceded 13 times in losing 3/3 on the road to top-10 outfits.

Last season, when Valencia came home eighth and won this fixture 1-0, Paco Jemez's men went W1-D0-L7 visiting the top eight, conceding almost four goals on average in those defeats (27 in total).

Valencia's five home wins so far this season have all come by margins of at least two goals. They were ahead at the interval in all five, which tallies nicely with Rayo's record of being behind at half time in 12/12 away defeats to top-10 finishers under Jemez.

Recommended Bets
0.5pts - Back Valencia/Valencia @ 2.35/4
0.5pts - Back Valencia -1.5 on the Asian Handicap @ 2.427/5

Cordoba v Levante
Saturday 19:00 (Live on Sky Sports 5)
Cordoba 2.285/4 Levante 3.7511/4 draw 3.39/4

Cordoba's improvements under Miroslav Djukic culminated in a first win of the season at Athletic Bilbao last weekend and a move off the bottom of the table.

Since the change of manager, the Andalusians have lost only 2/6: away to Atletico Madrid and at home to Villarreal. Both of those are in-form top-six teams.

Levante are certainly not top six, but their form has also improved under a new boss. Lucas Alcaraz has an even W2-D2-L2 record since taking over, although the best of those results have come at home.

On the road Levante have drawn with Sevilla, but lost to Celta Vigo and Espanyol.

The Frogs have hit the back of the net in each of the last five rounds of La Liga, however. At the other end they have the league's joint worst defence (29 conceded in 14 games so far).

That's just what newly confident Cordoba, who have been struggling for goals at home, would have hoped to encounter.

Early days for both bosses, so best to keep the stake small.

Recommended Bet
0.5pts - Back Both Teams to Score @ 2.245/4

Atletico Madrid v Villarreal
Sunday 18:00 (Live on Sky Sports 5)
Atletico 1.664/6 Villarreal 6.411/2 draw 4.03/1

Two in-form teams meet at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday night, but recent history says there is only one winner.

Since the start of last season, Atletico Madrid are W21-D3-L0 hosting teams that are not either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Football Form Labs data shows that in 2013/14 they went W6-D1-L0 hosting top-half teams from outside the Big Two. The Mattress Makers were winning at the break in 4/6. This term they have been leading after 45 minutes in 7/7 at the Vicente Calderon.

Last season Villarreal lost 4/4 away games at the eventual top four, going behind before half-time in all four. In fact, they were losing at the break in 10/10 away defeats last season.

This season the Yellow Submarine have already been beaten by Sevilla, who are currently one place behind Atletico in fourth.

Recommended Bet
Back Atletico/Atletico @ 2.6413/8

Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao
Sunday 20:00 (Live on Sky Sports 5)
Sociedad 2.55n/a Athletic 3.211/5 draw 3.3512/5

David Moyes suffered his first defeat as Real Sociedad manager last weekend. And quite emphatic it was too: 0-4 at Villarreal, with all four goals in the final half an hour.

Still, Sociedad haven't lost the Basque derby since 2012, winning this fixture 2-0 in each of the last two seasons.

Ernesto Valverde's Athletic are unbeaten in three away from home, conceding just a single goal along the way. They are smarting, however, from last weekend's 0-1 defeat at home to Cordoba and this season they have scored only four times in seven away matches themselves.

Since Valverde arrived in Bilbao, 13/26 of Athletic's away games have been all square at half time, including four of the last six. Sociedad have been level at half time in 5/7 La Liga outings at Anoeta.

Both sides are well behind where they would have expected to be at this stage of the campaign. On the back of last weekend's dismal results, their paths to European competition next season are narrow and neither can afford to slip many more times.

A cautious start seems likely.

Recommended Bet
Back Half Time Draw @ 2.186/5

2014/15 La Liga P/L

Staked: 51.5pts
Returned: 49.63pts

P/L: -1.87pts

2013/14 P/L: +18.77pts (11.55% ROI)