Football Betting Tips: Mark’s Best Bets for Matchday 34 in La Liga

Athletic Club's home win against Las Palmas coupled with under 3.5 goals gave Mark his top performance last week for his Best Bets column.

He looks for more joy this week as he picks out his three Best Bets for Matchday 34 over in La Liga. You can check out his Football Betting Tips for the weekend below with selections spanning from Saturday afternoon through Monday night...

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

Villarreal vs Osasuna (Saturday 15:15) 

Two sides pushing for European qualification clash at the Estadi de la Ceràmica on Saturday. Osasuna have won their last three matches to catapult themselves up the league from a possible relegation scrap into a Conference League position. Meanwhile, Villarreal are in a close fight with Real Betis for the final Champions League place. 

This is a game that certainly has the potential to deliver goals. The hosts are expecting to have key man Álex Baena back fit. With 21 assists in La Liga since the start of last season, more than anyone else in the division has managed, he's one of the most creative players in Spain and the 23-year-old frequently makes everything tick for his team. 

Baena's expected return should increase the supply-line to Ayoze Pérez and Thierno Barry up front for the Yellow Submarine, and they should carry a greater goal threat than has been the case in the last few games. 

They'll also be encouraged by the news that Osasuna are missing their most experienced central defender Alejandro Catena to suspension. It's likely to be a youthful backline for the visitors as a result of that, and with Jon Moncayola also a big injury miss in midfield, Vicente Moreno's side are likely to see their winning streak end here. 

They always carry a threat with 18-goal Ante Budimir up front though, and Villarreal have only kept five clean sheets all season in La Liga which is not great for a team in their position. 

With Betis breathing down their necks, the Yellow Submarine have to target three points from this game, and they should spend much of the match on the front foot. They ought to chalk up a fair few corners and Marcelino's side are averaging 5.75 per home game in La Liga this term, while Osasuna have conceded 6.31 corners per game on average on their travels. 

Given that, I'm using the Bet Builder to back Over 2.5 goals and Villarreal over 3.5 corners at 10/11. 

Real Sociedad vs Athletic Club (Sunday 20:00) 

The Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club is ordinarily one of the biggest matches on the calendar in La Liga, but this might be a slightly strange affair, with the visitors expected to rest players three days on from their Europa League semi-final first leg against Manchester United. 

The Europa League and a potential final at San Mamés has been the talk of the town in Bilbao ever since Athletic qualified for the competition a year ago. Ernesto Valverde has frequently prioritised European matches over the league, and they've made good progress, seeing off Roma and Rangers in knockout ties, following a strong showing in the initial phase. 

However, their Europa League dream came crumbling down in a disastrous first half against United on Thursday, with Ruben Amorim's side racing into a 3-0 lead at a stadium where Athletic so very rarely lose. 

Dani Vivian's controversial red card for a foul on Rasmus Højlund certainly didn't help matters, and the Athletic centre-back may be one of the few senior stars who isn't rested this weekend at the Reale Arena given he'll now be suspended for the trip to Manchester. 

Despite the huge task that now awaits them, Athletic won't be throwing the towel in, and with a six-point advantage on sixth place in the race for Champions League qualification in La Liga, they do have a bit of breathing space which should allow Valverde to continue his rotation policy in this game. 

The Athletic boss made 10 changes for the trip to the Bernabéu last month, for a fixture that took place three days after the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final. We may not see quite that many here, but it's likely that more than half the team will change, and they are already missing top scorer Oihan Sancet to injury. 

That all points to Real Sociedad having a pretty good chance of securing a Basque derby victory. Unlike their opponents, they have no other remaining distractions, and they'll be really motivated for this game, both because of the derby aspect, and also because they need the three points to boost their European chances. 

It hasn't been a great season for Imanol Alguacil and his team, but they have still put in a few big home performances, and they've won three out of five against top-six opponents at the Reale Arena which bodes quite well for their chances on Sunday night. 

11 days will have passed since their last game by the time this kicks off, and that break has also given them a welcome opportunity to nurse a few players back to fitness. They've been missing their two regular centre-backs in recent weeks, but are expecting to at least have Nayef Aguerd back in time for this game which should make a difference. 

I fancy them to have the better of this game and I'm backing Real Sociedad (Draw no bet) at 8/11. 

Girona vs Mallorca (Monday 20:00) 

The Monday night football comes from the Estadi Montilivi and it features two teams who have experienced a real reversal in their fortunes this season. 

Girona finished third with 81 points last term, while Mallorca were 15th on 40. With five games to go this season, it's the Balearic Islanders who are seven places and nine points better off.  

While Mallorca are gunning for European qualification, Girona find themselves in an unexpected relegation battle, one that they don't seem remotely prepared for. 

Míchel's side have now gone 11 games without a victory, and they've only picked up four points during that period. It's hard to pinpoint even a single summer signing that has really delivered, and given the number of key players they lost, it's no surprise that they've been nowhere near as competitive as was the case last season, although nobody expected things to get quite this bad. 

Having tried various ways to make things work, it felt like Míchel almost admitted defeat last time out, by bringing veterans Cristhian Stuani and Portu into the side for the relegation six-pointer at Leganés. The pair were both part of the Girona squad that went down in the 2018/19 season, but had only started one league game each this term prior to that match. 

Míchel has clearly decided he needs a bit more character and experience in this side, but they could only draw that game 1-1, despite playing with a man advantage for more than 70 minutes against the second-worst team in the league. 

They don't have the feel of a side that is ready for the scrap that lies ahead of them over the final few weeks, and this won't be easy against a Mallorca team that has been competitive on their travels. 

Jagoba Arrasate's side were impressive winners at Real Sociedad only last month, and they are in a much stronger position on the selection front for this game than was the case at Barcelona last time out, with regulars Vedat Muriqi, Pablo Maffeo and Dani Rodríguez all available again. 

A solid defence has been a key ingredient in their success this season, with only six teams conceding fewer goals. I can see them keeping it quite tight here and they look good to get a result against an unconvincing Girona side, so I'm using the Bet Builder to back Mallorca or Draw 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...