Football Betting Tips: Best Bets from La Liga for Matchday 3

A clean sweep for our Spanish Football expert with his Best Bets for Matchday 2 in La Liga as all three of his selections - at prices of 11/8, 8/5 and 13/10 - all came in for a very profitable week for those following his tips.

He's back with his three Best Bets for Matchday 3 and you can check out what they are and why with his Football Betting Tips from La Liga column for this week, below...

Mallorca vs Sevilla (Tuesday 19:00) 

Two teams under new management, but yet to win, clash at Son Moix on Tuesday evening. It’s not exactly a pressure game just yet for Jagoba Arrasate or García Pimienta, but both will be eager to get that first victory chalked up before the international break. 

Mallorca are the favourites with home advantage, but there have been some positive signs from Sevilla in their opening two games, and they’re likely to be very competitive. 

They’ve made eight signings this summer and while they haven’t spent big, they look to have made good use of the loan market with Saúl Ñíguez, Valentín Barco and Albert Sambi Lokonga all coming in on temporary deals. 

Saúl is perhaps their standout addition. He was once a midfield mainstay for Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid and was the scorer of some of the club’s most important Champions League goals back in their final years at the Vicente Calderón. 

He has lost his way a bit over the past four years, but there has always been the sense that he’d have more joy playing for a different kind of coach in a more expansive team. Under Pimienta, Sevilla will look to dominate possession and playing alongside two more defensively-minded midfielders, Saúl may get the freedom to push forwards and make runs into the penalty area, a feature of his early years in Madrid. 

The early signs for the 29-year-old at Sevilla suggest this could be a move that does work out. Having been suspended for the season opener, Saúl was arguably the best player on the pitch on Friday against Villarreal. While his team suffered late heartbreak, with Ayoze Pérez scoring a 94th minute winner, Saúl was a threat throughout and had four attempts on goal in the game, more than any other player on the pitch. 

He should start in Mallorca on Tuesday night and he’s likely to operate in a similar role, meaning he should get shooting opportunities in and around the penalty area. Given his impressive opening performance, I can see value in backing Saúl Ñíguez to have 2+ shots at 15/8. 

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

Atlético Madrid vs Espanyol (Wednesday 20:30) 

There’s a real buzz around Atlético Madrid at the moment, following their boldest transfer window for a number of years. New signings Robin Le Normand, Julián Alvarez, Alexander Sørloth and Conor Gallagher all featured in the game against Girona on Sunday as Los Rojiblancos recorded an impressive 3-0 win. 

That scoreline may say as much about where Girona are currently at, as it does the improvement in Atleti, but there is plenty for their fans to be excited by as they head into this midweek showdown, back at the Cívitas Metropolitano against newly promoted Espanyol. 

While it’s not yet totally clear what Diego Simeone’s best eleven is going to be, it does feel like they have a much stronger core group of 15 or 16 players than was the case last season. That should prove very useful when the Champions League kicks off next month and will also help them in midweek league games like this one. 

Simeone has the option of mixing things up by bringing Sørloth, who was La Liga’s second top scorer last season, as well as the midfield duo of Gallagher and Koke into his starting eleven. All three featured off the bench against Girona, with Gallagher giving his new fans a taste of what to expect with an all-action display following his 58th minute introduction.  

Gallagher’s energy should be a good fit for this Atlético Madrid side and they are likely to be too strong for Espanyol in this game.  

The visitors are yet to score or collect a point on their return to the top flight and they could be in for a very difficult season. After winning the Segunda División play-offs in June, the Catalan club have been weakened by the departure of the top scorer in Spain’s second tier last term with Martin Braithwaite heading to Brazil on a free transfer.  

They haven’t spent any money on transfer fees, mostly focusing on the loan market, but right now this squad feels weaker than the one that was relegated in 2023. I don’t see any hope for them in this game and am backing Atlético Madrid -1.00 Handicap at 19/20. 

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

Girona vs Osasuna (Thursday 18:00) 

It has been a really tough start to the campaign for last season’s surprise package Girona. The Catalans stunned everyone with a 3rd place finish in La Liga 2023/24. They finished above Atlético Madrid and scored more goals than Barcelona, but it’s no exaggeration to say that the spine of their team has been totally ripped apart over the summer. 

Five players who were regulars for Míchel last term are no longer there and he faces the prospect of totally reshaping his attack after the departures of Artem Dovbyk and Sávio. 

That process is ongoing and they’ve made some moves in the transfer market over the past fortnight, with 20-year-old winger Yaser Asprilla their most expensive summer buy, joining for an initial €18m from Watford. Forward Bojan Miovski has also completed a switch from Aberdeen. 

Those players could in the long-term fill the holes left by Sávio and Dovbyk, but they’re such incredibly big shoes to fill and it’s surely going to take time for this new-look Girona attack to gel. 

They’ve not been helped by a tough start that has seen them travel to Real Betis and Atlético in their opening two fixtures. They salvaged a point in Seville in their season opener, but a 3-0 defeat in Madrid at the weekend has further cooled expectation levels at the Estadi Montilivi, after a desperate pre-season that saw the Catalans fail to win any of their seven friendlies, and suffer 4-0 defeats against both Newcastle and Toulouse. 

By contrast, Osasuna have a much more settled squad after relatively little transfer activity. They do have a new coach, with Vicente Moreno having a big job on his hands as he bids to replicate the success of his predecessor Jagoba Arrasate. 

Moreno would have felt the pressure heading into Saturday’s showdown against Arrasate’s new side Mallorca. The optics of a home defeat in just his second match against the man who has shaped so much of Osasuna’s recent history would not have been good. 

Therefore, it would have been a huge boost for the new boss as Rubén García’s strike sealed a 1-0 victory. They should head into this game with something of a spring in their step as a result, and given Girona’s current issues, I’m backing Double chance - Draw or Osasuna at 23/20. 

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...