Football Betting Tips: Mark’s Best Bets for Matchday 27 in La Liga

Our Spanish Football expert is on a roll and his Best Bets column last week went two-for-two with the Villarreal match being postponed, therefore the third bet didn't come into play. Can he keep up the profitable run he's on?

He looks to go back that up this week with his three selections for Matchday 27 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

Valencia vs Real Valladolid (Saturday 17:30) 

Two of the bottom three sides in La Liga meet at Mestalla on Saturday. It's a must-win game for Valencia, but also for Real Valladolid who would be 11 points from safety with 11 games to play were they to lose it. 

In truth, the visitors already feel like a completely lost cause. A poor first half of the season, was compounded by some key departures in the January window. While they did bring players in, there has been nothing to suggest they are of the quality needed to compete in this league. 

After a surprise win over Real Betis in January gave them brief hope, they went on to lose six league games in a row, conceding 22 goals in the process. Back under the caretaker management of Álvaro Rubio, who has the unenviable job of steering this sinking ship for the remainder of the season, there can be little doubt that they are the worst team in La Liga. 

Given that, this is a game that Valencia simply have to pick up all three points in, and there's plenty of reason to think they will rise to the task. 

Since appointing Carlos Corberán at the turn of the year, only the top three teams have defeated Los Che. They'd won three home games on the bounce before losing to Atlético Madrid a fortnight ago, and they're looking sharper in the final third, primarily thanks to the recent arrival of Umar Sadiq on loan from Real Sociedad. 

Sadiq scored 38 goals across two seasons in the Segunda División with Almería which earned him a €20m move to La Real in 2022. However, he hadn't even clocked up 90 minutes in La Liga for the Basque club when he tore his cruciate ligament just 10 days after joining, and the Nigerian never really got going again after his recovery. 

A change of scenery looks to have done Sadiq the world of good though, and he's benefitting from the game-time that he simply didn't get at the Reale Arena. Having come off the bench to score a vital equaliser for Los Che in the derby at Villarreal last month, the 28-year-old has started the last two games, scoring twice in the 3-3 draw at Osasuna last time out. 

With fellow striker Hugo Duro out injured, he's certain to lead the line here and stands every chance of playing the full 90 minutes again. That should serve up a number of opportunities against La Liga's worst defence and I'm backing Umar Sadiq to score anytime at 13/10. 

Real Betis vs Las Palmas (Sunday 17:30)  

There aren't many better teams to watch in La Liga right now than Real Betis. They went big in January, with the addition of Antony on loan from Manchester United, while striker Cucho Hernández joined for €13m from MLS side Columbus. With young winger Jesús Rodríguez also breaking into the team, their attacking threat has vastly increased, and they were too good for Real Madrid last weekend.  

While those players have all made a difference, Isco remains the man who makes everything tick for Manuel Pellegrini's side. With more quality around him and his injury problems hopefully behind him, Isco is looking really sharp again, and his total reinvention as a footballer at the Benito Villamarín has been great to see, following a miserable few years at Real Madrid and briefly Sevilla.  

Isco has scored four of the last six Betis goals in all competitions, assisting one of the other two. They've scored at least twice in all of their last five league games, and come into this one following a 2-2 draw against Vitória Guimarães in the Conference League.  

Pellegrini is likely to consider some rotation here ahead of the second leg of that tie in Portugal next week. Las Palmas will be hoping they can take advantage of any fatigue in the home camp, and while they come into this game in really poor form, the visitors have continued to carry a goal threat.  

Seven of their last eight matches have seen both teams score and that's despite injuries for their two top scorers, Sandro Ramírez and Fábio Silva. Between them, the duo have scored 50% of their team's goals in La Liga this term, and both players are fit again now and should start this one. 

The Canary Islanders do have some selection issues at the back though, with regular centre-back Scott McKenna suspended after his red card in Valladolid last weekend, while fellow defender Mika Mármol is an injury doubt. 

Betis will certainly fancy their chances of causing plenty of problems for the visiting defence, and I'm backing Both teams to score at 10/11. 

Espanyol vs Girona (Monday 20:00)  

The Monday night game this week is a Catalan derby at the RCDE Stadium. Espanyol were supposed to play last Monday too, but heavy rain forced the late postponement of their trip to Villarreal, so they'll have gone more than a fortnight without a match by the time this one kicks off.  

The break wasn't really something they needed with Manolo González's side playing their best football of the season in January and February. They only lost one of their seven league matches across that period, with noticeable improvements at both ends of the pitch.  

The addition of striker Roberto Fernández on loan from Braga has been one of the catalysts for their improvement. While they weren't exactly firing on all cylinders in that department before, the 22-year-old has proven a major upgrade on their previous options and has taken the pressure off top scorer Javi Puado in attack.  

Urko González de Zárate, another January loan signing, has also slotted nicely into the team at the base of the midfield. With only three defeats in 13 home fixtures, a decent record for a newly-promoted side, they look capable of giving anyone a game in front of their own fans, and they've no reason not to fancy this. 

Girona have not really got going this season after the extraordinary highs of last term. While it was always going to take some time for Míchel to make things work after a high turnover of players in the summer, they don't really look any more convincing now than was the case back in August. 

That's a major concern for the Girona boss and it perhaps points to the reality that they simply didn't do a good enough job on the recruitment front this time around, having managed to unearth some real gems in previous years. 

Abel Ruiz, Arnaut Danjuma, Bojan Miovski, Bryan Gil and Yaser Asprilla all arrived last summer to bolster their attack, but only very rarely have things really clicked in the final third, and they come into this match having lost seven of their last nine in all competitions, winning only once. 

Confidence has to be low in the visiting camp as a result, and given Espanyol's good form and strong home record, it's very hard to justify Girona's status as favourites to win this match. Given that, I'm backing Espanyol - Draw no bet 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...