Sunday Football Accumulator Tips: Goals expected in La Liga

Sunday brings us an interesting selection of fixtures in La Liga to add to the feast of football over the Easter weekend.

We've put together an accumulator of what we feel are the best bets in Spain this Sunday, which pays out at 7/1.

Celta Vigo vs Rayo Vallecano - Celta Vigo Over 1.5 Goals @ 6/5

We head to Vigo for the first leg of our La Liga Sunday acca where Celta and Rayo Vallecano are both looking to build on important wins prior to the international break.

Celta Vigo sacked Rafa Benitez before their trip to Sevilla and while they trailed their hosts heading into the final 20 minutes, the Galicians staged a late rally with goals Carles Perez and Jorgen Strand Larsen securing a dream start for new boss Claudio Giraldez.

It was a classic case of the new manager bounce with Celta playing as though the shackles had been released with Benitez gone and their attacking players given a bit more freedom. They had 18 attempts on goal and created a number of other good chances against what has been a much improved Sevilla defence of late.

If they can produce a similar level of performance here, they should pose plenty of problems for a Rayo Vallecano side that has lost their last four away league games, conceding eight times in the process. On paper, Celta have enough firepower in their ranks to be doing much better and Giraldez’s 3-4-2-1 system seemed to work quite well in Seville with Iago Aspas and Jonathan Bamba operating behind top scorer Jorgen Strand Larsen.

They’re 6/5 to score over 1.5 goals against Rayo which makes this the riskiest leg of the acca, but if we can get a good start at Balaidos, we should be in business for the rest of Sunday’s action in Spain.

Girona vs Real Betis - Girona Over 1.5 Goals @ 4/6

Girona have suffered four straight away defeats to all but end their unlikely title challenge, but there has been precious little wrong with their performances or results at the Estadi Montilivi. They’ve scored 17 in six home games since the turn of the year in all competitions and their two most recent home outings have ended in comfortable 2-0 and 3-0 victories.

A fortnight off may also have helped them regroup following recent setbacks on the road and they look well capable of bouncing back with another strong showing at home here.

It’ll be a very different kind of match to recent away defeats at Getafe and Mallorca, two teams who aren’t afraid to defend in numbers and play direct football. Under Manuel Pellegrini, Real Betis are a team that tries to play more of a passing game and they are highly unlikely to rock up in Catalonia and park the bus.

That may play into Girona’s hands to some extent. The hosts are missing lively winger Savio to suspension which is admittedly a big blow, but otherwise they’re likely to have their best eleven available for this game, including Ukraine duo Artem Dovbyk and Viktor Tsyhankov who should ensure this is a busy afternoon for the Betis defence.

The visitors feel like something of a work in progress following a very active January transfer window. They may recall the fit again Isco to the starting eleven here, but they have lost their last three in La Liga, conceding twice or more in all of those games and Girona look good to pile on more misery for the Andalusians here.

Alaves vs Real Sociedad - Real Sociedad Over 0.5 Goals @ 2/5

The third leg of our Sunday Spanish football acca comes from the Basque derby in Vitoria where Real Sociedad are hoping to further their push for European football by beating local rivals Alaves.

Real Sociedad really struggled for much of the winter as the demands of combining league football with big games in the Champions League and Copa del Rey proved too much for Imanol’s side. They’re out of the cup competitions now though and the return to playing only one game per week has helped spark a much needed improvement in their league form.

They head into the game following a 3-2 win at Granada and 2-0 home win against Cadiz and the fortnight break should also have helped them more than Sunday’s opponents Alaves.

The hosts don’t really have a great deal to play for. They’re 13th and 10 points clear of the relegation zone, a really good position to be in at this stage as a newly promoted team and they’re doing just enough to edge towards safety.

However there are certainly limitations to an Alaves side that has won just one of their last seven in La Liga. It’s also worth noting they’ve only won one match all season against teams currently above them in the table, keeping just two clean sheets across those 17 matches.

This may not be a goal fest, but we should be able to rely upon Real Sociedad for a goal here.

Real Madrid vs Athletic Club - Real Madrid Over 1.5 Goals @ 8/13

If all goes well, we’ll head to the Bernabeu for the Sunday night game, just needing Real Madrid to do the business in the fourth and final leg. This is a meeting of two teams in the top four and while Athletic are having a terrific season, it’s going to be a really big ask for them to deny the leaders at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Basques have thrived this term largely as a result of their outstanding home record with their only defeat at San Mames coming on the opening day of the season against Real Madrid who were comfortable 2-0 victors.

Athletic also have a Copa del Rey Final against Mallorca next weekend which is an enormous game for the club. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Ernest Valverde opts to rest some of his stars in this match, particularly those who got minutes during the international break and even if that doesn’t happen, having such a big game on the horizon is unlikely to aid Athletic’s chances.

Real Madrid are missing Vincius Junior to suspension, but that blow is partially compensated for by the return of Jude Bellingham from a two game ban of his own.

Carlo Ancleotti will most likely respond to the loss of Vinicius by bringing Joselu into the eleven and with the Spain international on 14 goals for the season in all competitions despite his back-up role, Los Blancos are still sure to offer a real goal threat in this game and they look good to score at least a couple.