Villarreal will climb to second with victory
Barcelona and Real Madrid will almost certainly finish as La Liga's top two once again but after the demoralising manner in which they led from the start last term, and pushed further and further ahead of the also-rans, it's encouraging that this campaign has at least kicked off with some variety.
Whereas both giants of Spanish football got underway with five successive victories last season, there have only been two matchdays so far where both have triumphed, and Valencia, despite losing star players David Villa and David Silva over the summer, have capitalised to assume the role of early pacesetters.
Villarreal crawled out of the blocks last year as they struggled to cope without coach Manuel Pellegrini, who left for Real Madrid, however they have re-emerged as the threat they were under the Chilean since hiring accomplished B team boss Juan Carlos Garrido (pictured above) in February.
This evening, the Yellow Submarine have an opportunity to leapfrog the two title favourites and go second by winning away to Malaga, and odds of [2.68] on them recording a fourth straight success look generous given that their hosts have already lost to Valencia and Sevilla at La Rosaleda.
Malaga, fortuitous final day survivors in 2009-10, haven't actually claimed three points in any of their last seven league home games, though they've scored in each of their last nine Liga outings, so over 2.5 goals appears a shrewd bet at [2.02].
Brazilian forward Nilmar is the danger man for the visitors, having netted six times in six appearances in all competitions so far. He's been so prolific that he leads the Spanish scoring charts despite having played a game fewer than the majority of his rivals, and will be confident of extending that advantage tonight.
Think Villarreal's progress will be halted? Then you can back Malaga at [2.92]...
Published: 27 Sep 2010
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