La Liga Preview: Lions can devour Tenerife

Spanish Football / Tobias Gourlay / 22 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

Fernando Llorente. Good touch for a big man.

"Recommended Bets: Back Athletic Bilbao -0 at [1.98] v Tenerife; back Valencia at [2.40] to beat Getafe"

Tobias Gourlay guarantees excitement, and perhaps a winning bet, in this midweek round of La Liga games.

Thirty-nine goals in 10 matches at the weekend. Thank goodness it has only been two days to wait for the next round of La Liga.

The Big Two shared 10 of those goals and have already established themselves at the top of the table. On Tuesday, Barcelona are [1.33] favourites to win in Santander, even though there have been reports suggesting Pep Guardiola might rest Lionel Messi, whose unique game-breaking abilities have helped the champions record better results than perhaps they have deserved so far.

On Wednesday, Real Madrid are [1.66] favourites to win in Villarreal, who finished fifth last season. It seems unlikely now that either of the Big Two will be odds-against for any matches in the near future except El Clásicos. Real lured Manuel Pellegrini from their opponents in the summer, since when the Castilians have made a poor start to the season. Under the Chilean they had a solid record at home to the Big Two (W5-D2-L3), but early signs are that it does not hold up without him.

Helped by early competitive games in the Spanish Super Cup and the Europa League, Athletic Bilbao have made their best start to a league season since Howard Kendall was in charge 21 years ago, winning 3/3 so far.

For a second consecutive away match, they visit a promoted side. Ten days ago they beat Xerez 1-0, taking their unbeaten run against such teams to W6-D6-L0. Although the only goal in that game came after 32 minutes, eight of those 12 matches have been level at the break (the half-time draw is a [2.12] shot), including 5/7 under the current boss, Joaquín Caparrós.

On Wednesday evening Caparrós takes the team 1,000km or more to Tenerife, who lost a centre-back and a right-back to red cards in Sunday's 4-0 defeat to Real Mallorca. Fernando Llorente, the Spanish international striker who brings a serious aerial threat, and Iker Muniain, the 16-year-old forward who has recently become the youngest person ever to play and score for the club, are both travelling with him. There are others too. Like Llorente, Javi Martínez has 'un buen toque de un gran hombre', and his partner in central midfield, Carlos Gurpegui, has given up the nandrolone, but remains an energetic presence.

If Liverpool continue to so obviously miss Xabi Alonso, and Rafael Benítez gets a bit of money from the new shirt sponsors, another raid on the Basque country would be advisable. If Standard Chartered Bank don't come through with anything, a wager around evens on Athletic -0 on the Asian handicap could help the Reds' owners fund a deal for Martínez.

That's the top three covered. Who else is there? Well, there is Valencia, who were four minutes away from three-game perfection when an equaliser by 10-man Sporting Gijón dropped them to fifth. David Villa was most disappointed about losing points to his old club and told his team-mates not to play so conservatively again after taking a lead. Sound advice - the defence is still terrible. Miguel Àngel Moyà, the goalkeeper signed from Mallorca, has been very poor, certainly no better than the Brazilian, Renan, who was in decent form last season until injury and is now on loan at Xerez. Moyà was beaten at his near-post and failed to collect a free-kick into six-yard box in the course of conceding two goals at the weekend. He also made a big mistake in the 4-2 win at Rayo Valladolid a week earlier.

There might be a touch of value about [1.92] for Over 2.5 Goals, then, but consecutive meek defeats for Getafe and the excellent form of Los Che's attacking trident - Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata have seven goals between them already - persuade this column to stick its money on the away win at [2.40].

Last, and least, there is Atlético Madrid. Nineteenth place and one point from three games is a dismal start to the season for Abel Resino's Champions League qualifiers. They are not usually so consistently bad, and if Resino is to save his job he must surely do so at home to Almería on Wednesday. The visitors' deficiencies were discussed here recently. All that need be updated is their loss record: they have now been beaten in 9/12 away from home under Hugo Sánchez. Atlético have recently tended to win their home games early; they have been ahead at half-time in 9/13 wins at the Vicente Calderón since the beginning of last season. Under Sánchez, 6/9 of Almería's away defeats have been likewise. Atlético/Atlético in the Half Time/Full Time market is on offer at [2.22].