Football Bet of the Day: We all bet on the Yellow Submarine

When he's not doing yoga, Marcelino coaches an excellent Villarreal side

Kevin Hatchard's taking us to Spain this evening, and he expects one of his favourite La Liga sides to do the business against struggling Granada...

Villarreal v Granada
Saturday February 07, 17:00

You should probably make the most of today, and seek out redemption if you've done some naughty stuff in your past, because Trapani being involved in a goalless draw is undoubtedly the first sign of the apocalypse. A team that had scored 38 goals and conceded 49 in 24 games faced the Serie B leaders and top scorers Carpi, and they didn't produce a goal between them. Expect the plague of locusts any time soon.

In the time we have left, we shall try to make some profit, and we are making a visit to Spain today. Villarreal are up against Granada, and I suspect the home side will have a comfortable evening.

Villarreal - or the Yellow Submarine if you prefer - were one of my favourite European teams when Manchester City's current boss Manuel Pellegrini was at the helm. Recently retired playmaker extraordinaire Juan Roman Riquelme pulled the strings in a side that was based on hard work and organisation, the epitome of which was midfield workhorse Marcos Senna. They weren't always sparkling to watch, but at the time it was nice to see a Spanish side that wasn't Real Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia doing well. I'm still a bit gutted that Riquelme missed that crucial penalty against Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League semi-finals, and I suspect "The Bullfighter" won't forget it either.

Anyway, enough reminiscing - what about the current Villarreal side? Well, they're not bad either, and they are chasing a seventh consecutive home win in all competitions. Marcelino's side haven't conceded a La Liga goal at home since November, and their only defeats on home soil this term have come against elite sides Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia. The average teams don't tend to have much fun when they visit El Madrigal.

It's not just at home where Villarreal are impressing. Their thrilling 3-2 defeat at Barcelona last weekend was their first loss since the first week of November, which is a run of one defeat in 19 games. Villarreal are sixth in La Liga, just four points off the top four.

Today's visitors Granada are in the relegation zone, and they have won just one of their 11 league games on the road. They have scored a pitiful eight goals away from home, and they have lost four of their last five road matches.

With Villarreal defending so solidly, there's scope for backing them -1.5 on the Asian Handicap to boost the price for a home win to 2.07n/a. If we don't think Villarreal will concede, then they only need to score twice to net us a winner. Five of their seven home wins in the league have come by a margin of two goals or greater. It's also worth noting that Granada have suffered some right old spankings away to top-six teams - they lost 5-1 at Sevilla and 6-0 at Barcelona, and they succumbed 2-0 at Atletico Madrid.

Recommended Bet
Back Villarreal -1.5 on the Asian Handicap v Granada at 2.07n/a

2015 P/L (1pt per bet)

Points Staked: 19

Points Returned: 15.19

P/L: -3.81 points