La Liga Preview: New Year brings high hopes for Getafe

Spanish Football / Tobias Gourlay / 31 December 2009 / Leave a Comment

Getafe's Roberto Soldado is fighting fit.

"Recommended Bets: Back Barcelona & Real Madrid to win at [2.02] in Betfair Multiples; back Getafe at [1.84] to beat Valladolid; back Deportivo La Coruna at [2.8] to beat Real Zaragoza"

Tobias Gourlay brings Barcelona and Real Madrid together for the first round of La Liga matches in 2010.

La Liga took a break for Christmas last weekend, but the Spanish are not as inclined to snooze as some might think and there's a full round of matches this Saturday and Sunday.

Reigning champions and league leaders Barcelona are [1.39] favourites at home to Villarreal on Saturday. The visitors have been improved by the return from injury of Santi Cazorla, the irrepressible Spain winger, and are beginning to understand coach Ernesto Valverde's system, which demands a quicker transition from defence to attack than Manuel Pellegrini's. They won last time out on the road at Atletico Madrid, but, having lost five in a row to that point, cannot yet claim the away win as their habitual result.

Barcelona will be without a few of their regular first-teamers - Andres Iniesta is injured, Leo Messi is resting, Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure have gone to the African Cup of Nations - but there aren't too many other reasons to suppose they'll be upset. In other circumstances, an Over Goals bet might appeal for a fixture that has seen 4/5 go Over 2.5 Goals and 3/5 go Over 3.5 Goals. Barca's last two home wins have been 1-0, however, and the missing players are a concern.

Only Real Madrid have prevented the Barcelona/Barcelona double result at the Camp Nou this season. At [2.06] this time, it's a bet worth thinking about. That said, without any strong patterns to Villarreal's away losses, perhaps the best thing to do is team the straight home win with a similar bet on another game to make a Multiple.

Valencia might look like an obvious choice at home to Espanyol, but consider that they have won only one of their last six league matches at the Mestalla. Instead, Real Madrid are a similar [1.51] price to win in Pamplona against Osasuna and have good form on their side. In the absence of Raul, Pellegrini's new team is beginning to play as he would like. He is an arch individualist, but Cristiano Ronaldo inspires confidence in his team-mates and is currently an important asset. Osasuna won this fixture at the tail-end of last season, when Real had nothing left to play for. Right now, they have everything to play for and can be paired with their great rivals to make a win double that will pay out at better than evens.

Michel's Getafe have won four of their last five games anywhere, five of their last six at home and look well-placed to challenge Real Mallorca and Deportivo as the league's biggest overachievers. Various players have spoken about the confidence their coach inspires in them; in particular, Roberto Soldado has been in excellent form. Having lately - belatedly - become a gym monkey, the former Madridista has scored six times in El Geta's last three league games. In eighth place now, the team is beginning to meet the expectations many had for it at the beginning of the season, and Soldado is getting closer to meeting those of the Real youth-team coaches who first noticed him.

Blackburn Rovers and Rubin Kazan are interested in signing him at the moment, but, as Michel has told the player himself, the names will get bigger if he keeps up his current level of play. The prospect of a transfer at the end of the season - perhaps to replace David Villa at Valencia - should motivate him and help Michel keep his charges in the right half of the table. This weekend's visitors to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez are Valladolid, who arrive with two points from their last five on the road. [1.84] looks a bit long for the home win.

Finally, and briefly, sixth-placed Deportivo are a good deal longer to win away to second-bottom Real Zaragoza on Sunday. The visitors are not supposed to be doing quite so well. Coach Miguel Angel Lotina built the team to avoid relegation - they have a resolute defence and score mostly from set-pieces - and they have the spirit and work ethic to succeed away from home for a fifth time in eight attempts.