Atletico Madrid suffered their first home league defeat since December 2019 as they were beaten 2-0 by Levante on Saturday. Jose Luis Morales scored in the first half before Jorge de Frutos netted a second later on after goalkeeper Jan Oblak came up for a corner. Real Madrid have now cut the gap between themselves and the La Liga leaders to three points. Meanwhile, Barcelona’s bad week continued after a late penalty earned Cadiz a point at Camp Nou, cancelling out Lionel Messi’s own first-half spot-kick in a 1-1 draw.
Friday 26 February
Levante 21/10
Draw 21/10
Athletic Bilbao 14/10
(22:00)
Levante gained four massive points against log leaders Atletico Madrid last week after the two sides played a 1-1 draw at Levante and handed Atletico their first home defeat since December 2019. The hosts have lost just once in their last 13 matches and beat both Madrid sides at their grounds. Athletic Bilbao are also a team that has been consistent of late as they’ve also lost just once in their last 11 fixtures. It’s hard to separate the two teams so back a draw here.
Saturday 27 February
Eibar 11/10
Draw 22/10
Huesca 51/20
(15:00)
Eibar and Huesca have not been pulling up any trees lately and they seem to be the main candidates for the drop to Segunda at the moment. The hosts are just incapable of scoring goals this season. They are on a dreadful run with six losses and two draws in the last eight matches across competitions. It seems like Huesca can still save themselves with a strong series of results in the final quarter of the campaign. The visitors have won two and drawn one of their last five matches – the two defeats came against Sevilla and Real Madrid. Huesca have improved a lot and I will be backing them in this fixture.
Sevilla 9/4
Draw 49/20
Barcelona 12/10
(17:15)
While the top-most spot is almost bookmarked for Atletico Madrid this season, the second position is certainly up for grabs. Currently Real Madrid are placed second in the table with 52 points, and these two are behind, with Barca sitting at 47 and 45 points for Sevilla. Under normal circumstances, Barcelona should have this game in the bag with not much effort. However, they are going through one of their worst spells of the season, and if this trend continues, they might not even get the third spot. It’s hard to trust Barcelona at the moment so I’ll be backing Sevilla on this one.
Alaves 16/10
Draw 18/10
Osasuna 43/20
(19:30)
Six points from the last two divisional games have finally dragged Osasuna out of the relegation zone. The visitors will be hoping to continue that winning streak this weekend as well as they travel to Alaves who are slightly lower positioned in the table. Alaves’ most recent form has been horrible though, as they lost four from their last six appearances and conceded 16 goals in the process. Osasuna should make it three wins in a row here.
Getafe 29/20
Draw 39/20
Valencia 22/10
(22:00)
Getafe’s situation is quite alarming as the team keep winning games, trying to exit the relegation zone, while the Azulones keep losing matches. They are stuck in 15th place three points ahead of the red zone. Valencia themselves are inconsistent and by the looks of things, they will be a mid-table team throughout the season. Both teams are not convincing at the moment, so I suggest backing a draw here.
Sunday 28 February
Celta Vigo 17/20
Draw 26/10
Real Valladolid 32/10
(15:00)
Valladolid will be hoping to arrest the current slump in form on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Abanca Balaidos to battle bottom-half rivals Celta in the 25th round of La Liga. Celta Vigo lost one and drew four of their last five league matches. Valladolid have kept just one clean sheet in the last 11 games across competitions. Celta Vigo should win this match.
Cadiz 11/4
Draw 47/20
Real Betis 1/1
(17:15)
Midtable rivals Cadiz and Real Betis are set to lock horns in an exciting clash on Sunday afternoon at Estadio Ramon de Carranza. Real Betis have been attackingly oriented throughout the whole season, but they will come into this encounter off the back of a 1-0 win against Getafe. The visitors have scored in each of their last 14 matches across all competition while Cadiz have conceded in all their last 10. Back Real Betis to win comfortably here.
Granada 8/10
Draw 49/20
Elche 36/10
(19:30)
Elche finally won a game when they beat Eibar last weekend to register their first win since November. Form wouldn’t have suggested it, but the club went on to win 1-0 and that was their first clean sheet since 6 December. Granada were unfortunate to lose 3-2 to Huesca in what was the game of last weekend. If the hosts can play the way they played last week but tighten up the defence, they would win this game comfortably. It is also important to note that Huesca scored two goals from corner and the third was an own goal. Back Granada to win here.
Villarreal 43/20
Draw 2/1
Atletico Madrid 29/20
(22:30)
Atletico Madrid are leading the table at the top this season as it stands. The visitors have picked up 55 points from 17 wins and four draws in their last 23 appearances in La Liga. They have lost only twice in the league so far. Their previous encounter was a disappointing home loss to Levante which ended their unbeaten run since December 2019. They are presented with a golden opportunity of returning to winning ways as they visit an out of form Villarreal team that is winless in the last six league matches. Back Atletico Madrid to bounce back here.
Monday 1 March
Real Madrid 8/10
Draw 11/4
Real Sociedad 31/10
(22:00)
Los Blancos are the best team in Spain at the moment after the Atletico Madrid. They are expectedly placed second in the table and have a lead of five points as well over third-placed Barcelona. Real Madrid are slowly closing the gap at the top and at some stage they were 13 points behind, but now the gap is only five points. In addition, there’s a huge opportunity coming up for Madrid to improve their position in the table as Barcelona are pitted against fourth-placed Sevilla this weekend. Back Real Madrid to make it five wins in a row.
TREBLE @ 11/2
Celta Vigo Win 17/20
Real Betis Win 1/1
Granada Win 8/10
Written by Banele Pikwa