La Liga Betting: Maxi to inspire Atletico Madrid to maximum points

Spanish Football / Tobias Gourlay / 18 December 2008 / Leave a comment

This week Atletico Madrid's Kun Aguero was eager to talk up his side's La Liga-winning credentials but their good form has been as much down to captain Maxi Rodriguez's performances as the goals of Aguero and Forlan. And they can win again this weekend, says Tobias Gourlay.

If Barcelona are hot right now, then Atlético Madrid are very warm. Los Colchoneros are undefeated in 14 games in all competitions, a run that this week prompted Sergio Agüero to declare his side realistic title challengers. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Kun. First show us what you can do away to Espanyol on Saturday night.

Espanyol have a new manager, José Manuel Esnal, but have improved only slightly since he took over two games ago, drawing away to Betis and taking the lead in Valencia before remembering how not to defend and going down 2-1. They are not a patch on the side that reached the UEFA Cup final a couple of seasons ago. Albert Riera is gone; Iván De La Peña is injured too often to be important; and the best days of talismanic captain Raúl Tamudo are probably behind him (he's injured anyway this weekend).

Kun's brilliant partnership with Diego Forlán is well known; they have 11 goals between them in the last five matches that both have started. It is now time for this column to genuflect in front of the underrated Maxi Rodríguez (remember how much better his chest-and-volley World Cup '06 goal was than Joe Cole's?). El capitán scored the opener in last week's victory over Betis and was again the dominant figure in midfield. [2.24] is a nice price for his men to take all three points away from Montjuїc.

Sevilla are one of Atlético's main rivals for a place in the top four. The Andalusians have won four of their last five away games and the sweet smell of value lingers over a price of [2.16] for them to make it five out of six in Mallorca on Sunday.

Manager Manolo Jiménez has changed tactics in recent weeks to good effect. Sustained petulance and a red card have dropped Luis Fabiano to the bench, leaving Freddie Kanouté on his own upfront. Adriano and Renato have revelled in the greater freedom afforded them in midfield, but Freddie remains the fulcrum of their attacks. He has been left out of the squad for the UEFA Cup match against Sampdoria after picking up a minor thigh injury in last weekend's win over Villarreal, and it is worth checking his status for Sunday's game before getting involved.

For the record, Mallorca are in very poor form. The islanders have not won anywhere since the end of October, failing to beat any of Athletic Bilbao, Málaga and Recreativo in their most recent three matches at the ONO Estadi.

No one has lost as many home games as Sporting Gijón this season, but it is Almería who come to town on Sunday, bearing gifts for hosts and bettors alike.

Since winning in Bilbao on the opening day of the season, these Andalusians have earned one point from six away games. Sporting's five defeats have come against teams who all now boast one of the eight best away records in the league; their two victories have come against Numancia and Osasuna, whose away records bear much closer resemblance to Almería's. Sporting are a good bet at [2.40], but there is better value in the goals market.

Sporting's fans boast the most violent reputation in Spain and demand that their team plays with no fear. This season it seems that the team has been terrified into playing a style of attacking football that often looks suicidal. At El Molinón, Sporting have conceded more regularly than even Bernd Schuster's Real Madrid did at the Bernabéu and have not managed a clean sheet all season.

Thankfully, the Rojiblancos have got goals in them; Carmelo's form has not been diminished by a recent injury and Mate Bilic continues to pose a significant physical threat to opposition defences. Almería, who have scored in each of their most recent three defeats, also have goals in them, just not quite as many. Hopefully. It is difficult to fathom why Over 2.5 Goals is as long as [2.02].