Football Betting Tips: Best Bets from La Liga for Matchday 8

A mixed bag for our Spanish football expert in his Best Bets column in midweek as a 1/1 winner was joined by 23/20 and 9/5 losers. He has a pick from games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday for us this time around.

Check out his three best Football Betting Tips for the action from Matchday 8 from La Liga below...

Rayo Vallecano vs Leganés (Saturday 15:15) 

It's back-to-back derbies for newly promoted Leganés who drew 1-1 against their nearest neighbours Getafe last weekend. They head into Madrid to take on Rayo Vallecano this Saturday and the home team have had a pretty good week after holding both Girona and Atlético Madrid to draws. 

Rayo are looking as convincing as they have done at any point since Andoni Iraola swapped the Spanish capital for the South Coast of England in 2023. His assistant Iñigo Pérez was also supposed to head to Bournemouth, but work permit issues thwarted that move and the 36-year-old will probably be glad they did, after taking over hotseat in Vallecas in February of this year. 

Pérez was a bit more cautious than his former boss as Rayo battled to safety last season and he has shown good defensive instincts at times this term too. Overall though, we've seen a lot more from Rayo in an attacking sense this season with the immediate threat of relegation removed, particularly at home where they were often so impressive under Iraola. 

At one of La Liga's smallest, but most atmospheric grounds, Rayo commit bodies forwards with their full-backs given licence to progress deep into opposition territory. They're not afraid to shoot from range either, having 16 attempts to Atlético Madrid's 10 in a 1-1 draw on this ground last weekend. 

They average 13.7 shots per home game this term overall which is really high given that Atleti and Barcelona have been two of their three visitors. They scored in all of those fixtures, also beating Osasuna 3-1 and they're sure to look to take the game to Leganés here. 

The visitors are operating quite cautiously as they look to find their feet at this level, having won last season's Segunda División. They took four points from their opening two games, but it's just one goal and two points since then. 

A relegation battle looks to be very much on the cards for this Leganés and I can see them being second best in this game. I'm using the Bet Builder to back Rayo Vallecano over 0.5 goals and Rayo Vallecano over 13.5 shots at 3/4. 

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

Real Betis vs Espanyol (Sunday 13:00) 

Real Betis are one of the most watchable teams in La Liga and that has been the case for the majority of Manuel Pellegrini's successful reign which is now into its fifth season. 

A Premier League champion a decade ago with Man City, Pellegrini has had to operate on considerably tighter purse strings in Seville, but he has successfully managed a squad that has gone through a major overhaul over the past few transfer windows. 

Players have come and gone, but the number 10 role has been key to all that has been good about Betis during the Pellegrini era. Nabil Fekir occupied it for a while and was a constant goal threat until suffering a serious injury in the 2022/23 season. Last term, it was Isco who shone as Betis' best player in the role, scoring eight times, his best goal return in La Liga in seven years. 

With Isco sidelined until the new year, Betis moved to sign Giovani Lo Celso from Tottenham late in the transfer window. The Argentine was already a firm fan favourite in the green and white half of Seville, having dazzled in Betis colours with 16 goals in all competitions during the 2018/19 season, form which prompted his initial move to North London. 

While it never quite worked out for Lo Celso at Spurs, or in a subsequent loan spell at Villarreal, he has been an instant hit back at the Benito Villamarín which granted him a hero's welcome when he came off the bench to make his second Betis debut against Leganés earlier this month. 

The 28-year-old helped spark a late home victory in that match and he has been absolutely outstanding since then, scoring all of Betis' last four goals in matches against Mallorca, Getafe and Las Palmas. 

They've got another favourable fixture here, at home to newly promoted Espanyol. The Catalans have looked a bit vulnerable defensively, conceding eight times in their last three matches alone and on current form, Lo Celso will fancy he can get on the scoresheet for the fourth time in four starts since rejoining a club that just seems to get the best out of him. 

With the Argentina international also seemingly on penalty duties, I'm backing Giovani Lo Celso to score anytime at 11/4 here. 

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

Villarreal vs Las Palmas (Monday 20:00) 

In a league that doesn't always guarantee goals and entertainment, you can normally rely on Villarreal to deliver on that front. That's certainly been the case so far this season with the Yellow Submarine scoring 14 and conceding 14 in their seven matches. 

Only newly promoted Real Valladolid have let in more goals than Marcelino's side, so they can perhaps count themselves fortunate to be sitting in the top four heading into this matchday. 

A big reason why they are in that position is the stunning form of new signing Ayoze Pérez. Having already fired in Stoppage Time winners at Sevilla and Malllorca, the former Newcastle and Leicester man scored both goals on Thursday as Villarreal won 2-1 away to Espanyol. 

Averaging a goal every 69 minutes this season, the Spain international is out-scoring Kylian Mbappé and is second only to Robert Lewandowski in the La Liga goalscoring rankings. He's far from Villarreal's only goal threat though with the likes of Álex Baena, Thierno Barry, Nicolas Pépé and Ilias Akhomach also capable of causing problems for a Las Palmas side that is currently propping up the division. 

It's not a great surprise to see the Canary Islanders at the bottom of the table in truth. They ended last season with a 14 game winless streak that saw them sink from the top half to a 16th place finish. 

They started this term among the relegation favourites and with that winless run in La Liga now stretching to 21 matches, it's looking pretty bleak already for Luis Carrión's side. 

To their credit, they have tried to play on the front foot this season and they have put in some competitive home performances, but away defeats at Leganés, Osasuna and Alavés don't bode well for their chances in a much tougher road fixture on Monday night. 

Given the high-scoring nature of their matches, I'm backing Villarreal to win and Over 2.5 goals at 19/20 here. 

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...