Football Betting Tips: Mark’s Best Bets for Matchday 24 in La Liga

It was so-close to another three-for-three week for our Spanish Football expert a week ago as his La Liga Best Bets for Matchday 23 came up just a Álex Berenguer Shot on Target short. Still, 7/5 and 4/5 winners ensured it was another profitable column for our man in Madrid.

He looks to go back that up this week with his three selections for Matchday 24 and he goes scouting for his Best Football Betting Tips from La Liga...

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

Leganés vs Alavés (Saturday 13:00)  

We're getting to that point in the season when games between two struggling sides start to feel so much bigger, and there's a genuine relegation six-pointer at the Estadio Butarque this Saturday lunch-time.  

Leganés are a tough side to figure out. Since the reverse fixture against Alavés at the end of November, which ended in a 1-1 draw, they've beaten both Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, but taken just two points from their other six matches during that period.  

One of those points also came via a goalless draw at San Mamés, where Athletic Club are so strong, but they head into this game without a goal in three outings in La Liga. The last two have been particularly disappointing, with a 1-0 home defeat to Madrid rivals Rayo Vallecano, followed by a 2-0 loss at Valencia in a crunch game at the bottom.  

While their young boss Borja Jiménez has got them quite well-organised defensively, a lack of firepower has been a clear problem all season. The hope was that summer signing Sébastien Haller could be the man to fire them to safety, but he left in January having failed to score.  

That leaves Miguel de la Fuente as their main striker. He works hard, but his overall record in the Spanish top flight now stands at just two goals in 56 appearances, across spells for three different clubs. Due to encroachment into the area, the 25-year-old had two attempts to score a very late penalty against Rayo a fortnight ago, but missed them both.  

Alavés, by contrast, do have an in-form striker to call upon. Kike García has thrived since the appointment of Chacho Coudet as the Basque club's new boss in December. The experienced forward has scored eight goals in their nine matches since the change.  

However, he has had virtually no support from his teammates. Aside from the Kike goals, Alavés have netted just twice under Coudet, and they come into this game following back-to-back 1-0 defeats against Barcelona and Getafe.  

Like their opponents, they look relatively well-organised defensively, and it's very hard to see where the goals will come from in this game. With the stakes high, this could be a scrappy, tense affair, and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Under 2.5 goals and Over 39.5 booking points at 11/10.  

Villarreal vs Valencia (Saturday 20:00)  

There's a derby match at the Estadi de la Ceràmica on Saturday evening. Valencia spent much of their history as the undisputed dominant force in this part of Spain, but their fans have regularly had to look at neighbours Villarreal with envy in recent years.  

Rarely has the gap been as big as it is right now. While Valencia are fighting hard to avoid what would be only their second ever relegation from the top flight, Villarreal are pushing for the top four, and in with a real chance of securing Champions League football next season.  

Both sides take a bit of form into this game. If you're willing to overlook two heavy defeats against Barcelona, which saw Los Che concede 12 times across 180 minutes of league and cup action, Valencia should be feeling much better about life after three vital wins from their last four in La Liga.  

While they remain in the relegation zone, those results have given them a much greater survival chance. The recent appointment of Carlos Corberán appears to have been the catalyst for the improvement, but his three league victories to date have all come at Mestalla.  

Away from home, Valencia are still winless in La Liga 2024/25, taking only four points on their travels. That points to this being a game that Villarreal should largely control.  

The Yellow Submarine have also won three of their last four matches. That includes 4-0 and 5-1 home victories, and they are now averaging exactly two goals per game in the league, a record that only Barcelona and Real Madrid can better.  

They have some really good options in attack, but with Gerard Moreno carrying an injury, it looks certain to be Thierno Barry and Ayoze Pérez up top for the home team here.  

Pérez is having an exceptional season. The ex-Newcastle man's 10 league goals have come at a rate of one every 91 minutes. That means he's scoring at a faster rate than the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé, and the Spain international has scored in each of his last two appearances. 

He's linking up brilliantly with talented young Spaniard Álex Baena who has set up three of his goals. With Moreno not an option to bring off the bench, there's a good chance that we see the 31-year-old complete the full 90 minutes here, and I'm backing Ayoze Pérez to score anytime at 23/20. 

Mallorca vs Las Palmas (Sunday 17:30) 

Two out-of-form teams clash in Palma on Sunday, with Mallorca and Las Palmas having both picked up only one point so far in 2025. Both were going well at the end of 2024, so this is an opportunity for one of these sides to get back on track. 

All things considered, that is much more likely to be Mallorca. They were a matter of minutes away from picking up a first victory of 2025 on Monday night, only to concede a 94th minute leveller in their home game against Osasuna. 

Vedat Muriqi was their goalscorer in that match, and the imposing striker ensures they always carry a physical presence up top and have somebody to play off. Mallorca will be looking for a bit more from their other attacking players, although they have had a relatively tough schedule to kick off the new year, which has contributed to their dip in form. 

This is a good opportunity for them to get back to winning ways and strengthen their European prospects. Las Palmas were flying under their new boss Diego Martínez at the end of 2024, but they were riding their luck at times, and there was a sense that they were not quite as good as their results suggested. 

Since the turn of the year, little has gone right, and they have some very significant selection issues heading into this game. 

Their joint top scorers Fábio Silva and Sandro Ramírez are both unavailable. Between them, the pair have been responsible for 50% of their team's goals in La Liga this season, with back-up striker Oli McBurnie likely to start here as he aims to break his duck in the Spanish top flight at the 20th time of asking. 

The visitors are also without midfield regulars Kirian Rodríguez and Dário Essugo. With four of their best performers this term missing, a struggling Las Palmas side could be really up against it here, and I'm backing Mallorca to win and Under 3.5 goals at 11/10. 

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...