Football Bet of the Day: Betis to bounce back

Kevin Hatchard
04 February 2023
1:30 min read

Manuel Pellegrini's Real Betis are once again in the mix to qualify for Europe

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We're sticking with Spain, and Kev thinks Real Betis are too big a price to take the win against lowly Celta Vigo.

Betis have had a tough schedule recently
Celta have lost eight of last 11 on the road

Betis v Celta Vigo
Saturday 04 February, 20:00

It was a case of wow in Bilbao last night, as Athletic Club's Oihan Sancet fired in a hat-trick to spark a 4-1 win over Cadiz. That took us way over the 2.5 goals line, but we're still in the black for the week. We'll stay in Spain, because Real Betis are up against struggling Celta Vigo, and I think the hosts are attractively priced to take the win.

On the face of it, Betis are suffering a bit of a slump. They have won just three of their last eight competitive games, a post-World Cup spell that saw them go out of the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey. However, when we dig a little deeper, we see that things aren't quite so bad.

Manuel Pellegrini's men lost on penalties to Barcelona in the Super Cup, and lost in the Copa on spot-kicks to Osasuna. Since the World Cup they have also faced a tough trip to Mallorca, and home games against Athletic Club and Barcelona. In the league, Betis have taken just two points from their last four home games, but they were against Atletico Madrid, derby rivals Sevilla, Athletic Club and Barcelona. Prior to that run, Betis had reeled off six home league wins in a row.

Celta Vigo boosted their survival hopes with a 1-0 win over Athletic Club in midweek, but they are only a point clear of the dropzone, and their away form is chronically poor, with eight defeats in the last 11 road matches in La Liga stretching back into last season. Goalscoring away from Balaidos is proving to be a consistent problem, with just six goals recorded across those 11 games.

The team continues to be too reliant on veteran goal-getter Iago Aspas, who has scored recent winners against Athletic Club and Elche. He has nine of Celta's 18 league goals, and were the former Liverpool forward to suffer an injury, it would represent a major blow.

Betis are priced at 2.26/5 to win here, and I think that's a decent price given the quality gap on show. The hosts potentially have Nabil Fekir, Sergio Canales and Luiz Henrique in behind Borja Iglesias in attack, and should cause plenty of problems for a defence that is so leaky on the road.

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