La Liga Tips: Dani Olmo's moment arrives for in-form Barcelona

• Midweek star Dani Olmo to drive Barcelona home win

• Nico Williams to star against Atletico Madrid

• Getafe versus Real Sociedad should be light on goals

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Barcelona v Real Valladolid - Sat, 16:00

There's a long, long way to go in the new project at Barcelona, but for the moment things are going nicely for Hansi Flick.

The German has overseen three wins from three in La Liga so far, his side have been dominant in the share of chances (6.5 xG for and 2.4 against), and plenty of players are performing at notable level. Along with that, Flick's measured temperament has given an air of business to his side, building confidence both inside and outside the club. At this stage, Barça's decision makers couldn't have asked for much more.

Of course, things aren't perfect - that we know with modern day Barcelona. In the latest setback, a season-ending injury to Marc Bernal in their win at Rayo presents a problem. The 17-year-old had done a fantastic job as a midfield organiser for Flick so far, and they have no like-for-like replacement.

If that's the bad news from their midweek game at Rayo Vallecano, the good news was Dani Olmo's Barcelona debut. Their big money signing from RB Leipzig was electric after coming on as a second half substitute, swung the game firmly in the away side's favour, and then went on to score the winning goal himself.

Olmo has now netted in four of his last five games for club and country combined, and this looks like a good chance for Flick to give the new man a runout on home soil, while taking advantage of his momentum. With just 45 league minutes so far, the 26-year-old should be well rested and ready to go.

As for opponents Real Valladolid, the departure of their star defender Enzo Boyomo for Osasuna in midweek will make this a rough moment to travel to Barcelona. I'll take the home side to win and Dani Olmo to score anytime.

Athletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid - Sat, 18:00

It's not been a particularly hot start for either Athletic or Atletico this season, given they're two sides well capable of occupying half of the top four spots come the end of 2024-25. Both have shown flashes of their top level, but there's most certainly more to come in the coming weeks and months.

As for this match-up specifically, clashes between Athletic and Atletico tend to be fought on fine margins. Over their last 11 meetings in La Liga, Athletic have won four games and lost five, with the other two ending in draws. Both sides have scored exactly 11 goals in those 11 games.

Indeed, this fixture has rarely thrown up away victors in recent times. Atletico have only won this exact fixture in one of the previous six seasons in La Liga (D1 L4), while they've scored just three times across those six trips. As for when Athletic have faced Atletico away from home, they're winless in their last 13 trips to Madrid. Winning this fixture is never easy, and particularly for the visitors.

With that said, I'm going to stay away from the result in this one and put the focus on a pair of players.

After a gradual introduction back to club football, including just 32 minutes in midweek, I'm expecting Nico Williams to be rolled out with plenty of intent for the home side in this one. He's been directly involved in five goals in his last six starts in La Liga (two goals, three assists), and scored home and away against Atletico last season too.

On the other side, former Real Sociedad defender Robin Le Normand will be in for a tasty reception at San Mames. His 14 yellow cards since the start of last season are the most of any defender in La Liga, and while he's still adapting to his new side, I expect he'll be defending on the limit against an energetic Athletic team here.

Getafe v Real Sociedad - Sun, 18:15

It's been a strange start to the campaign for Jose Bordalas' Getafe. In their season opener they had to use a central midfielder as their centre forward owing to a lack of players, their second game didn't feature a single shot on target, and they didn't play on MD3 owing to Betis' involvement in European qualifiers.

During this stop-start beginning to the campaign, however, Getafe have looked as big a headache as ever to face. Bordalas' side might not produce scintillating, rhythmic football, but they're ferocious competitors who can take just about any opponent to the brink. In the two games they've played so far, they've given up just 0.58 xG against and faced only 10 shots.

As for Real Sociedad, three points from their first nine available has been far from an ideal start, considering the strength of their opposition. Rayo Vallecano finished 17^th last term, Espanyol are newly-promoted, and Alaves finished 10^th. Granted, an early red card last time out conditioned their defeat against Alaves, but they've been slow out of the gate across the board.

Through three matches, Real Sociedad have the second-worst xG differential in La Liga (-1.6 - 2.9 for, 4.5 against). That might not sound like the end of the world, but Imanol Alguacil's side have almost always been characterised by being hard to beat. In the short term, correcting that defensive resilience has to be at the top of his to-do list.

All in all, I think the current state of these two sides points towards a tight affair that could be short on goals. Getafe have only netted twice in their last six home games in La Liga, and Real Sociedad have averaged fewer than a goal per game across their last 10 in the league (9 goals).

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