Football Betting Tips: Best Bets from La Liga for Matchday 9

It was another three-from-three outing for our Spanish Football Expert with his Football Betting Tips for Matchday 8 in La Liga. A late Giovani Le Celso goal added a tasty 11/4 winner to his 3/4 and 19/20 efforts. Not too shabby.

He's looking to repeat that success for Matchday 9 and he has three bets that are all priced at odds-against as of the time of publication. Check out his thoughts as he picks out his Best Bets for this weekend in Spain...

Espanyol vs Mallorca (Saturday 13:00) 

In general, Mallorca have been anything but happy travellers since winning promotion to the top flight in 2021, but under new boss Jagoba Arrasate they seem to have developed a sudden love for life on the road. 

They've won their last three away games in La Liga, more than they managed in the whole of last season. That's despite an injury for key striker Vedat Muriqi with the absence of their big target man, contributing to a slightly different approach in recent matches. 

It's four wins out of five overall in the league for the Balearic Islanders, with Real Betis and Real Sociedad among the teams they have beaten during that period. The other two victories did come against newly promoted opposition and they are bidding to complete a hat-trick of wins over the teams that have just come up on Saturday. 

They've every reason to fancy this against Espanyol who head into the game on the back of three straight defeats.  

Last season's Segunda División play-off winners were severely hampered by La Liga's strict salary limits in the summer window, meaning they were restricted to making only loan signings, in addition to the arrival of Álvaro Tejero who joined on a free transfer from Eibar. 

It's perhaps no surprise then that they've lost five out of eight so far with a relegation scrap looking very likely for the Catalan club. They've also suffered a big setback this week with top scorer Javi Puado ruled out until November with a knee injury. 

Puado's hat-trick in the recent 3-2 win over Alavés accounts for three of the seven goals they have scored this term and he has been comfortably their most convincing attacking player. 

Defensively, there are areas of concern too for Espanyol and even when compared to a side like Mallorca, who finished 15th last season, it feels like there is a genuine gulf in quality. With the visitors in good form and enjoying life on the road, I'm backing Mallorca to win at 6/4. 

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

Las Palmas vs Celta Vigo (Saturday 17:30) 

Eight games into the season, we still haven't had a sacking in La Liga, but there's a very strong possibility that will change following this weekend with a number of coaches under real pressure to win matches over the next few days. 

One of those is unquestionably Luis Carrión at Las Palmas. Of the 20 bosses in the Spanish top flight, he has been in his current post for the shortest period of time. The 45-year-old succeeded Sevilla-bound García Pimienta in the summer, but has failed to win any of his eight matches in charge so far. 

In fairness to Carrión, it's not as though Las Palmas' problems started with his appointment. The Canary Islanders were very poor in the second half of last season too, failing to win any of their final 14 games, with that run also featuring an eight-game losing streak. 

They are now just nine more matches away from equalling the all-time record for a winless run in La Liga, set by Almería just last season. While they have played some attractive football at times under Carrión and even managed to hold Real Madrid to a draw on matchday three, this still feels like a side with a soft centre and an overall shortage in terms of quality. 

To compound his problems, the Las Palmas boss heads into what may be a 'must win' game in terms of his future, without first choice keeper Jasper Cillessen and with injury concerns over Marvin Park, Mika Mármol and Scott McKenna, arguably three members of his strongest back four. 

That will greatly encourage a free-scoring Celta Vigo side, La Liga's highest scorers outside of the top three with 15 goals in their eight matches to date.  

Even at the age of 37, Iago Aspas is still a high class performer and Celta's most important player, with four goals and two assists for the long-serving forward this term. Borja Iglesias has also settled quickly in attack and with boss Claudio Giráldez, who is actually a year younger than Aspas, giving opportunities to a host of academy graduates, the Galicians have been a really good watch. 

They do have defensive flaws though and have also conceded 15 goals so far this term. Las Palmas are one of just two teams to have let in more and everything points to a pretty open contest here. 

The visitors are clearly the superior side though and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Both teams to score and Double chance - Celta Vigo or Draw at 21/20. 

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

Girona vs Athletic Club (Sunday 13:00) 

Girona and Athletic Club clash on Sunday, having experienced very different fortunes at home to Dutch opposition in European competition in midweek. 

While Athletic were impressive in a 2-0 Europa League victory over AZ Alkmaar, Girona suffered a huge blow to their hopes of Champions League progress, going down 3-2 against Feyenoord in a fixture they'd really have been targeting three points from. 

Two own goals contributed to their downfall in that match and it was also a late own goal which denied them a point against PSG in their opening Champions League game. That just about sums Girona up right now, with very little going right on the back of a glorious season when just about everything did. 

A summer exodus of star players has of course contributed to their struggles, but their problems currently feel deeper than that. Faced with seven games in the space of a hectic three week period, Míchel has opted to rotate from match to match with the changes often extensive, and they haven't really found any rhythm. 

There are still a number of talented young players in this Girona squad, but it hasn't really clicked as a collective unit yet and their confidence levels have clearly taken a knock during a six game winless streak since the last international break. 

Four of those games ended in defeat and a repeat cannot be ruled out here against a strong Athletic side that has found some form after a slightly unconvincing start. 

The Basques are unbeaten in their last six outings in all competitions, winning four of those games, which has seen them climb into 5th place in La Liga, exactly where they finished last term. 

After a slow start to the campaign, key winger Nico Williams put in perhaps his best performance of the season to date on Thursday night and while the turnaround is a quick one, Ernesto Valverde will most likely name a strong eleven here with the international break following this match when many of Athletic's players will get an opportunity to rest up. 

Even last season when Girona were operating at a much higher level, the Basque side collected four points from the two meetings and I'm backing Draw no bet - Athletic Club at 6/5 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...