Real Madrid set for another derby success
Will the Copa del Rey continue to prove a welcome distraction to Almeria from their relegation battle? Will Atletico Madrid avoid a humiliation at the Bernabeu that would intensify pressure on coach Quique Sanchez Flores? Read on to find out what we think...
Almeria v Deportivo La Coruna (7pm, Sky Sports 2)
With Real Madrid, Barcelona and one of Villarreal or Sevilla expected to form the rest of the semi-final field, there's no doubt that this is the clash of the Copa del Rey outsiders, and the hosts are [2.24] to claim a first-leg advantage.
Almeria are bottom of La Liga without a home win - one of their only two victories coming away to Deportivo incidentally - however they've had no trouble beating top-flight rivals in the cup, triumphing home and away against Real Sociedad and Real Mallorca, scoring 13 in the process.
All of those successes came by one goal in games with at least three, so back both teams to score at [1.98] and consider over 2.5 goals at [2.3]. It's far from certain that Almeria will deliver again though as Deportivo's weekend loss to Barcelona was just their third in 14. We fancy the draw at [3.5].
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (9pm, Sky Sports 2)
Atletico Madrid's painfully long wait for a first victory over neighbours Real Madrid this millennium surely can't drag on for much more, and fans of last season's runners-up will hope that the streak is ended over the two legs of this quarter-final to deny Jose Mourinho a trophy he is clearly keen on.
But the case against tonight being the night for Quique Sanchez Flores' side is fairly convincing: they've played 14 at the Bernabeu under the Special One and won every single match, thumping Levante 8-0 in the last round. The aggregate score in those fixtures? Nothing too special - just 51-6!
It doesn't help that Atletico are in a bad moment right now, winning only three of their last ten games and suffering a humiliating 4-1 defeat to promoted Hercules on Monday night in which they trailed 4-0 at half-time, making it hard to fault odds of [1.34] on Real Madrid coming out on top.
The Rojiblancos are rarely humiliated in the derby though, last losing by more than two goals 11 meetings back, which suggests that a bet on Real Madrid failing to score in both halves is worth pursuing at [2.14]. A repeat of the 2-0 scoreline seen in the Liga encounter is offered at [10.0].
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Published: 13 Jan 2011
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