Football Betting Tips: Best Bets from La Liga for Matchday 13

Our Spanish football expert Mark Sochon has outlined some of his best fancies for the weekend's action.

La Liga Odds

Football Odds

Leganés vs Sevilla (Saturday 20:00)

Sevilla head to the Estadio Butarque on Saturday night for a game between two bottom half teams in La Liga. The visitors made a slow start to life under their new boss García Pimienta, but there have been a few more encouraging signs over the past couple of months.

They’ve won four of their last eight in the league, but there has been no real consistency and they are yet to win back-to-back fixtures. Injuries for first choice goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland and star centre-back Loïc Badé could leave them a bit more vulnerable at the back in this game, but they’ll fancy they can cause problems going forward against a Leganés side that has taken a few more risks over the past fortnight.

They were involved in a seven-goal thriller at Girona last weekend, losing 4-3 and Borja Jiménez will see this fixture as one where they have a decent shot of recording just their third win since promotion to the top flight.

With the likes of Chidera Ejuke and Saúl Ñíguez also missing for the visitors, Sevilla are likely to use Dodi Lukebakio as their main attacking outlet. He scored both goals in a 2-0 win at Espanyol in their most recent road game in La Liga, with two fine finishes from the Belgian taking his season tally to five goals.

No other Sevilla player has scored more than once which is certainly a worry for Pimienta, but they haven’t been shy to shoot. Their average of 12.8 shots per game is the sixth highest tally in La Liga and Lukebakio in particular clearly has licence to have a dig from range.

His average of 2.6 shots per game is the highest of any player who could feature in this match. With the lack of other attacking options, it’s likely he’ll complete the full game which hasn’t always been the case this term, and I’m backing Lukebakio to have 3+ shots at 4/5.

Real Betis vs Celta Vigo (Sunday 13:00)

This has been one of those fixtures that you can normally rely on to produce goals, with 24 in total across the last six meetings between the two clubs at the Estadio Benito Villamarín. Both teams scored in five of those games which include a 4-3 Celta win in 2023 and a 3-3 draw in 2018.

There’s every reason to think this will be a watchable affair too. Celta have been a breath of fresh air in La Liga this season, with Claudio Giráldez putting his faith in youth and attacking football. While results have been mixed, with five wins and six defeats for the Galicians to date, the goals have continued to flow at both ends of the pitch.

Celta head into matchday 13 as the joint fourth highest scorers with 18 goals, but also with the joint fourth worst defensive record having let in 20. There is little sign that Giráldez is going to change his ways though and they’ll fancy they can cause problems in this game with veteran forward Iago Aspas still doing the business at the age of 37, while Borja Iglesias will be hungry to add to his four league goals as he returns to his parent club.

While Betis have been involved in a few lower scoring fixtures of late, their natural instinct is always to look to play positive football at home under Manuel Pellegrini and it may just suit them to have a team come onto them like Celta surely will.

They’ve been using a 4-4-2 system in recent weeks and while they were exposed defensively in Bilbao last weekend and very lucky to come away with a 1-1 draw, we have seen a bit more from some of their attacking players.

With Isco and Giovani Lo Celso sidelined, Pablo Fornals has taken on more responsibility in midfield and it was the former West Ham man who struck at San Mamés. After a slow start, striker Vitor Roque is also starting to settle, with a recent brace in the Copa del Rey likely to help the Barcelona loanee’s confidence levels.

Overall, I think we should get a good game here and I’m backing Over 2.5 goals at 4/5.

Mallorca vs Atlético Madrid (Sunday 15:15)

It has been a better week for Atlético Madrid who defeated Las Palmas last weekend in La Liga, before claiming a dramatic late win at PSG in the Champions League thanks to Ángel Correa’s 93rd minute winner.

That result was certainly better than the performance though. Jan Oblak was required to make eight saves in the match, with Atleti managing just four attempts of their own in a fortuitous 2-1 victory.

They have not been playing well and Diego Simeone still feels like a man who is searching for answers and not finding many. He has frequently changed both his system and personnel, with no clear structure or best eleven emerging.

Injuries to Robin Le Normand and Marcos Llorente have not helped matters, as those were two of their most important players in the opening weeks of the season, while a return of just six goals in six away league fixtures to date highlights their struggles in the final third.

They won’t find it easy to break down a solid Mallorca side that has been having a good season under new boss Jagoba Arrasate. He has built on the strong defensive work done by predecessor Javier Aguirre and the Balearic Islanders head into this game having conceded only nine goals in 12 matches so far in La Liga 2024/25.

That’s the second best record in the division, with only their opponents on Sunday boasting a better record. Mallorca home fixtures have been particularly tight, averaging just 1.17 goals per game in total this term, so Son Moix has certainly not been the best destination for entertainment in the Spanish top flight of late.

I can see this being a tight game too and with Atleti still missing some important players and potentially a bit jaded after their efforts in Paris, I don’t see them improving on an away record that has seen them win just two of their six road games in the league so far.

Given that, I’m using the Bet Builder to back Mallorca or draw and Under 3.5 goals at 10/11.

Football Betting Tips, From Betfred Insights.