Football Betting Tips: Best Bets from La Liga for Matchday 4

Our Spanish football expert hit a 15/8 winner in his Best Bets column for Matchday 3 in La Liga to keep up his profitable season so far for this column.

As always, he picks out his three Best Bets from across Spain's top division, so check out for Football Betting Tips for Matchday 4...

Athletic Club vs Atlético Madrid (Saturday 18:00) 

The race for 4th place last season descended into a two-way battle between Athletic Club and Atlético Madrid. While it was Diego Simeone's side that ultimately won that fight to grab the final Champions League place, it was the Basques who won three of the four meetings, including both legs of a semi-final in the Copa del Rey, a trophy they went on to win. 

The two clashes in Bilbao would have been particularly tough watches for Atleti fans. Their side were outplayed on both occasions, going down 2-0 and 3-0 in the cauldron of noise that is San Mamés, easily one of the loudest stadiums in La Liga. 

Atlético Madrid had no real answer to Athletic's high pressing, high intensity style of play which would have infuriated Simeone. While his teams have not always been the most technically gifted, not many sides have been able to match them for physicality or work-rate during his long reign, so it would have really stung to see an opposing side be so dominant on those fronts. 

Those meetings may even have had some impact on the club's transfer policy this summer. They've added to their aerial prowess and physical strength with the signings of Robin Le Mormand and Alexander Sørloth, while Conor Gallagher and Julián Alvarez will bring real energy into the side which ought to be useful in a game like this. 

Atleti rested some players in their disappointing home draw against Espanyol in midweek, and while that was still a game they should have won comfortably, there was a sense that Simeone was keen to hold something back for this match. 

After what happened last season, it's likely we'll see Atleti seek to match their opponents in the physical department from the off and try to play Athletic at their own game, with a more intense and more aggressive approach. 

There have been 29 yellow cards across the last six meetings between the clubs and I can see tempers boiling over at times here, so I'm backing there to be Over 52.50 Booking Points at 8/11. 

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Leganés vs Mallorca (Saturday 20:30) 

Of the three newly promoted teams, overall it's Leganés who have been the most impressive so far. That's perhaps not a great surprise given they came up as Segunda División champions and they head into matchday four still unbeaten and having already shown what they are all about. 

They are a really organised team defensively and were promoted having conceded just 27 goals in 42 matches. While they've had to make changes in the goalkeeping department, their defence is quite settled and so far they've coped well with the step up, conceding just twice in three top flight outings. 

Tougher challenges will come and it has been a really favourable set of opening fixtures, but that trend continues on Saturday with winless Mallorca travelling to the Estadio Butarque. 

Under new management in the shape of Jagoba Arrasate, the Balearic islanders started brightly with a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, but they've been disappointing in their two games since then. They were beaten 1-0 on Arrasate's return to former club Osasuna last weekend, while a goalless home clash with Sevilla in midweek means they've not scored since Vedat Muriqi's header in the season opener. 

As was largely the case last term, Mallorca do look a bit one-dimensional, with the natural tendency being to play fairly directly to their big striker. Leganés have plenty of height in their central defence and will feel pretty confident about dealing with that kind of threat and the visitors don't have a great deal else that will truly concern what looks like a solid backline. 

There are certainly limitations at the other end of the pitch for Leganés and a lack of goals may still see them end up scrapping towards the bottom end of the league. However, confidence will be high currently and they are playing with all the early season optimism of an unbeaten, newly promoted side. 

Their wingers Enric Franquesa and Juan Cruz have looked lively and both scored during the 2-1 home win against Las Palmas last weekend. Back at Butarque, where they've lost just once in 21 outings, I'm going with Leganés Draw No Bet at 4/6. 

*You can check out all of the La Liga Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Valencia vs Villarreal (Saturday 20:30) 

Villarreal were involved in a cracking game on Monday, easily the best so far this season in La Liga as they twice came from behind to beat Celta Vigo 4-3 at the Estadio de la Cerámica. 

The expectation was that after the sale of top scorer Alexander Sørloth, they'd look to tighten up at the back and perhaps be a bit more conservative, but if anything the Yellow Submarine seem to have doubled down on an attacking approach. There have been 14 goals in their three matches to date, eight of which have been scored by Marcelino's side who are in 2nd place in the early standings. 

Defensive frailties aside, there is a lot to like about this Villarreal side. Long-serving duo Gerard Moreno and Dani Parejo are still classy operators and remain at the heart of this team while the return from injury of Yeremy Pino on the right flank is another big early season boost. 

They also look to have significantly more attacking options overall following the signings of Ayoze Pérez, Nicolas Pépé and Thierno Barry. That depth should help them in this game at the end of a busy fortnight, while they've also been boosted by the return of Arnaut Danjuma, with the Dutchman already scoring twice and looking hungry to kick-start his career after a frustrating spell in England. 

Right now, they look in a much better place than local rivals Valencia, who are the only side in La Liga yet to pick up a point. Rubén Baraja's team ended last season poorly too and have taken just two points from their last 10 matches overall, which is a very worrying trend for one of Spain's biggest clubs. 

They have problems at both ends of the pitch and the left side of the defence is one particular area of concern that Villarreal will fancy they can exploit. Captain José Gayà is ordinarily a key figure from left-back, but he's yet to start the season due to injury while they don't have a lot of experience in central defence with youngsters Yarek Gąsiorowski and César Tárrega competing for a start alongside 23-year-old Yerson Mosquera. 

Confidence is clearly an issue right now and it feels like they are catching their local rivals at just the wrong time from their point of view. Villarreal are scoring freely and I'm backing Over 1.5 Away Team Goals at Evens, a winning bet in six of their last 10 road games in La Liga. 

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out Mark's La Liga Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...