La Liga Betting: Almeria Not Going Down Without a Fight

We have reached the end of February, and only one team in Europe’s top five leagues has yet to win a single league match: Almeria. After finishing 17th and narrowly avoiding the drop on the final day in their first La Liga season in eight years, Almeria find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table with nine points, five behind Granada, nine behind Cadiz, and 12 behind automatic safety and Celta de Vigo.

Celta have had a fairly challenging spell as of late, closing out January with two straight defeats to Real Sociedad and a 1-0 loss to Girona before bouncing back with a 3-0 win at Osasuna. Rafa Benitez’s side erased a two-goal deficit only to be undone by Jaime Mata’s 89th-minute winner in a 3-2 defeat at Getafe, whilst the following match would see them undone in the 97th minute as Robert Lewandowski restored Barcelona’s lead from the penalty spot.

After mounting a two-goal lead, Celta would concede in the 66th minute to Juanmi whilst Darwin Machis drew level for Cadiz in the final second of the match. If you’re planning to bet on Spanish soccer this weekend, bet on more late drama for Celta vs. Almeria and bet on goals galore for either side.

It should come as no surprise to La Liga betting fanatics that BetUS Sportsbook is placing Almeria as the runaway favorites to suffer relegation at -10000 in contrast to Granada (-1200), Cadiz (-600) and Celta (+450). The online betting lines are backing Celta to come away with the victory at -122 in contrast to Almeria (+333), but I would not be surprised to see the Andalusians come away with something from this match.

Over the past two months, they’ve scored two goals against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, having previously done so against Girona, Valencia, and Celta – when they erased an early two-goal deficit only to lose 3-2 on Sept. 1. Their most recent fixture would see them fall behind on two occasions, only to escape with a 2-2 draw against Atletico via a brace from Milan loanee Luka Romero.

All signs point to another high-scoring shootout between Almeria, who have the worst defense in La Liga with 54 goals conceded, and Celta, who have the fourth-worst defense with 39. Almeria enter the match on the back of three straight draws, but they know that in order to give themselves a chance of staying up, they need to start getting some wins under their belt.

I expect them to push for a win with an attack-minded approach, and I expect them to find the back of the net for the seventh time in eight away matches. If you’re planning to bet on La Liga, bet on Almeria grabbing at least one goal in their trip to Vigo on Friday.

Aspas Rolling Back Years for Celta

Iago Aspas has saved Celta de Vigo from various relegation battles in the past, and he’ll be expected to do so once again this spring.

The Balaidos faithful has not witnessed a clean sheet since Dec. 16, when Celta edged Granada 1-0, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. However, the home fans could very well be in for a treat as far as goals are concerned, and they’ll be counting on their captain to deliver the goods once again.

As he approaches his 37th birthday, Iago Aspas continues to go strong, assisting Tadeo Allende’s equalizer in their loss at Getafe before drawing level after halftime against Barcelona. His latest match would see him open the scoring within 11 minutes at Cadiz. He has scored 200 goals in 481 appearances, sitting 124 goals clear in Celta’s all-time leading scoring charts.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him grab goal No. 201 against an Almeria side that has kept just two clean sheets in their last nine.

Questions Of The Day

Which La Liga match is likely to see both teams score?

Which La Liga forward is a surefire addition to your player prop bets?