Weekend Football Betting Tips: Best Bets for MD 31 in La Liga

It wasn't a vintage column for our La Liga expert Mark Sochon a fortnight ago as his Best Bets went 0 for 3. You can't win every week and he's back again looking for value with three odds against selections from across Spain's top-flight this Matchday.

Check out his La Liga Weekend Football Betting Tips right here with us at Betfred Insights...

After another weekend off due to the Copa del Rey Final, La Liga returns for matchday 31 as we head firmly into the business end of the Spanish domestic season.

It was a pretty good week for Spanish clubs in the Champions League, but with rotation expected from the big guns this weekend, there’s the potential for some surprise results over the next few days.

Atletico Madrid vs Girona (Saturday 13:00)

This is the standout fixture on matchday 31 as two of the top four clash at the Estadio Metropolitano. Both sides are out of title contention so this is all about the race for Champions League places.

Girona have lost their last four away from home, but they still boast the third-best road record in the division and they are expected to have all of their best attacking options available here. Key man Savio is set to return from suspension, while top scorer Artem Dovbyk will be feeling better about himself after he ended an eight game goal drought with a brace in the 3-2 win over Betis last time out.

The visitors will take belief from the way Barcelona raided the Estadio Metropolitano in Atleti’s last home league game. An unbeaten home run in La Liga of more than a year was ended in emphatic fashion and Girona will fancy they can also cause plenty of problems for what’s likely to be a heavily rotated Atletico Madrid side.

This game presents a dilemma for Diego Simeone. The lunchtime kick-off on Saturday leaves precious little recovery time from Atleti’s 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night. While they are by no means guaranteed a top four finish, the return leg in Germany next Tuesday and a great shot at reaching a Champions League Semi Final will undoubtedly take priority over this match and as such we can expect a number of players to be rested.

Even with their best defenders on the pitch, Atlético Madrid have been struggling to keep clean sheets this season, shutting just one top 10 opponent out on their own ground in the league. They’ve also been giving up a lot of corners, conceding 5.93 on average at home in La Liga which is a very high figure for a team with such a strong overall home record.

The visitors have had a fortnight off to prepare for this and should be capable of being really competitive in this game and I’m using the #PickYourPunt builder to back Both Teams to Score and Girona Over 3.5 Corners at 11/10.

Rayo Vallecano vs Getafe (Saturday 15:15)

If you’re looking for some Saturday afternoon entertainment, you might want to look elsewhere with this Madrid derby between Rayo Vallecano and Getafe unlikely to produce much in the way of chances or goals.

Rayo have been struggling to put the ball in the net all season, with only Cadiz scoring fewer than their tally of 25 goals in La Liga. A change in the dugout has done little to rectify the problem with just four goals in six games so far under Iñigo Perez.

They would have been expecting a lot more from record signing Raul De Tomas who was prolific during his first spell at the club but has scored just one goal this season, although he continues to be used as their lone striker in most matches.

Their top scorer is winger Alvaro Garcia on six but he’s a doubt for this game and even if he’s passed fit, he may struggle to find much space against what’s likely to be a very defensive Getafe side.

Unlike their neighbours, Getafe have been fortunate enough to have a free-scoring striker at their disposal this term, with Borja Mayoral rattling in 15 goals to propel himself into surprise contention for the Pichichi Trophy.

However the 27-year-old cruelly suffered a season ending injury last month. With Jose Bordalas preferring to use Mason Greenwood out wide and with Enes Unal having joined Bournemouth in January, they don’t really have another convincing striker to take Mayoral’s place.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Getafe boss has reverted to type to a large extent by packing the midfield and playing quite cautiously in recent games with all of their last three in La Liga ending with 1-0 scorelines.

Another tight, low scoring affair looks very likely here and I’m backing Under 1.5 Goals at 6/4.

Osasuna vs Valencia (Monday 20:00)

This is another match which may not turn into a classic but both sides have just enough in the final third to suggest we should at least get some goalmouth action.

Athletic Club’s victory in last weekend’s Copa del Rey Final means seventh place will almost certainly be good enough for European qualification and that’s good news for both of these teams who will be eyeing up the Conference League slot.

Valencia are five points better off, but only 34% of their points this season have come away from home and Ruben Baraja’s young team have struggled to compete in the tougher road games. Excluding fixtures against the current bottom seven, they’ve actually only picked up one point from nine away fixtures this season, failing to score in defeats at Real Betis, Getafe, Villarreal, Las Palmas and Alaves.

This is a very comparable fixture to those games, with Osasuna sitting safely in mid-table but with half an eye on a possible European push thanks to four wins from their last seven.

They should be well backed here in what will be the first match at El Sadar since long-serving and hugely popular boss Jagoba Arrasate announced his intention to step down at the end of the season. The Osasuna board are reportedly desperate to change his mind and the players did their bit too with a 3-0 win at Almeria last time out.

The fans are likely to make their feelings known on Monday night and with home advantage and one of the form strikers in the league in the shape of Ante Budimir, who has fired in six goals in his last seven, I can see the hosts edging this and I’m going with Osasuna to win at 6/4.

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...