⚽ Sportsbet.io ⚽ Spanish La Liga ⚽ Football Pool Discussion Thread 2023/2024

[slaman29]

No La Liga today but I've picked a parlay including most of La Liga contenders, and Elche to lose for over 33x with Sportsbet boost. Any picks for upsets from our resident Spanish experts? Since I'm bottom of Superbru I admit now I have no knowledge of the games this season:) Good luck in Copa del Rey!

[1713248033]

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[1713248033]

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[LTU_btc]

No La Liga today but I've picked a parlay including most of La Liga contenders, and Elche to lose for over 33x with Sportsbet boost. Any picks for upsets from our resident Spanish experts? Since I'm bottom of Superbru I admit now I have no knowledge of the games this season:) Good luck in Copa del Rey!

Since they changed Copa del Rey format and there is no second leg games anymore, betting on it become quite risky. Like we saw today when few games with obvious favorites went to extra time on penalties. If we talk about Sunday games, I see good value in Espanyol win, they look really solid in Segunda, while Osasuna is on the bottom on La Liga. Also, I think Gijon can make an upset against Betis. Gijon is solid team this season, while Betis is so inconsistent.
By the way, don't forget about Supercopa final. Good chance for Barca to end title drought. But I think game is gonna be very tough, wouldn't be surprised that it will go to the penalties.

[slaman29]

No La Liga today but I've picked a parlay including most of La Liga contenders, and Elche to lose for over 33x with Sportsbet boost. Any picks for upsets from our resident Spanish experts? Since I'm bottom of Superbru I admit now I have no knowledge of the games this season:) Good luck in Copa del Rey!

Since they changed Copa del Rey format and there is no second leg games anymore, betting on it become quite risky. Like we saw today when few games with obvious favorites went to extra time on penalties. If we talk about Sunday games, I see good value in Espanyol win, they look really solid in Segunda, while Osasuna is on the bottom on La Liga. Also, I think Gijon can make an upset against Betis. Gijon is solid team this season, while Betis is so inconsistent.
By the way, don't forget about Supercopa final. Good chance for Barca to end title drought. But I think game is gonna be very tough, wouldn't be surprised that it will go to the penalties.

I always found the risk even bigger with 2 legs like in CL. Some teams think they can do better on the second leg, or some just throw away games. It's the single leg that rewards people who want to win it, one win and one upset is all you need.

But like you said, the temptation is, at 80 mins or even 70 mins, if you can't score, why not defend and go to penalties right?

[LTU_btc]

I always found the risk even bigger with 2 legs like in CL. Some teams think they can do better on the second leg, or some just throw away games. It's the single leg that rewards people who want to win it, one win and one upset is all you need.

But like you said, the temptation is, at 80 mins or even 70 mins, if you can't score, why not defend and go to penalties right?

It probably depends on how seriously big clubs are looking into this tournament. When there was 2 legs, I remember that Barca or Real often played draw or even lost to 2nd or 3rd division teams because they simply let their B teams player to play. But on second leg with more main team players they scored 5-6 goals and easy went to next round.
But now we have quite a lot La Liga teams already eliminated in early rounds. On Thursday Barca will face 3rd division team Cornella, who already kicked out Atletico. So, probably it won't be easy

[slaman29]

It probably depends on how seriously big clubs are looking into this tournament. When there was 2 legs, I remember that Barca or Real often played draw or even lost to 2nd or 3rd division teams because they simply let their B teams player to play. But on second leg with more main team players they scored 5-6 goals and easy went to next round.
But now we have quite a lot La Liga teams already eliminated in early rounds. On Thursday Barca will face 3rd division team Cornella, who already kicked out Atletico. So, probably it won't be easy

Yep, it was only during semi or finals that the A team came out to play, there really was a time when Barca B or Real B could even probably play in Segunda and win it (which is why there are many rules regarding such possibilities).

Anyway, UCL beckons next month so let's see if Messi gets the rest from his 2 game ban (reduced now from 4). He must still be fuming about it

[Trofo]

Big blunder from Real yesterday. Did not watch the game but to lose in the cup game against Alcoyano. Must be some funny newspaper covers in local Barcelona papers this morning

That one did not hurt me but I was really surprised by Villareal not getting full 3 points at home. That one cost me a lot, had a really nice otherwise winning ticket. I guess it was the case no Moreno no party for yellow submarine. And Alcacer missing penalty in injury time was just the drop to to leave me fuming.

I lost all tickets yesterday, all high stake:
1. Alcacer missing penalty - needed Villareal win
2. Insigne missed penalty against Juve - had both to score
3. Handball - Missed clear shot from counter attack in last seconds of the game for Russia to cover my handi

That's when you know it was not meant to be

[tomahawk9]

friendly reminder to make your picks for the next Matchweek which kicks off tonight with Levante - Valladolid

heh! i just realized i'm currently 3rd in the leaderboard. @LTU_btc and @casperBGD, i'm coming for ya!

Big blunder from Real yesterday. <...>

we've playing like dog sh*t for a long time, obviously, we were gonna pay the price sooner or later...KO'd from the Super Cup a few days ago, KO'd from the league cup by goat farmers and part time janitors, players and coach feeling indifference after all of this...it's all so tiring 😐

[slaman29]

I'm having mixed feelings every time I read responses from Real supporters. I'm Barca so I should feel happy to read it all, you know because misery loves company and if I'm doing badly, then my rival should also be doing as badly or worse!

But at the same time, you know also that you only feel the satisfaction of winning when you also defeat the best at their prime.

[slaman29]

Don't forget we got a Friday opener tonight. Needed to make the one pick but just went for the whole week ahead already. Huesca away, nothing fancy but the bookies have it for a draw to be most likely outcome I guess. Me, I'm happy to get 1.5 points from this. Not telling what I'm predicting;) Not that you guys will want to follow!

[Trofo]

Don't forget we got a Friday opener tonight. Needed to make the one pick but just went for the whole week ahead already. Huesca away, nothing fancy but the bookies have it for a draw to be most likely outcome I guess. Me, I'm happy to get 1.5 points from this. Not telling what I'm predicting;) Not that you guys will want to follow!

Yep, only 5 from 13 of us have made their picks for this round.

Looking forward to Villareal - Sociedad match this week, should be a good game to watch but very tough to predict. I went with draw in our pool for now but will maybe change it in favor of Villareal. They should be closer to victory but it will be a tough one.

Expecting another boring victory for Atletico Madrid away from home but also not betting on it since they have to lose points sooner or later.

[casperBGD]

~snip
Looking forward to Villareal - Sociedad match this week, should be a good game to watch but very tough to predict. I went with draw in our pool for now but will maybe change it in favor of Villareal. They should be closer to victory but it will be a tough one.

Expecting another boring victory for Atletico Madrid away from home but also not betting on it since they have to lose points sooner or later.

I already went with Villareal to win, not sure why, but it seems that Sociedad has done their part of this season, and they will slide down to the middle of the table

regarding other matches, expect boring round with easy wins for Real, Barca, Sevilla, and would like to see Valencia getting in three points, just because this is a good chance to do that, Atletico should go under goals, and probably away win, although I expect them to miss few points in following rounds as well, most statistic wise, not because their form is worse or something, with that said, Cadiz does not look as real opportunity to lose points for Atletico, but one never know with statistics

[buwaytress]

^^ A total non-entity for me tonight as well, not putting any bets on these games, unless perhaps 0.5 goal before HT is the odds are really, really good. Can't predict for shit on all these midtable teams, not gonna put them on my parlays for my life.

Another Atletico supremo performance is the only thing worth betting on (but Villareal odds also good?).

[tomahawk9]

5 from 13 of us have made their picks for this round.

i forgot to submit my pick for yesterdays match...not like it mattered tho, nobody in the pool predicted the right outcome, we all got 0 points from that match so we stay in the same position in the leaderboard

friendly reminder that Madrid are gonna miss a lot players today: Ramos, Vazquez, Nacho, Rodrygo, Carvajal and Valverde. Also, Zizou still in quarantine...anyone expecting an upset? not me, i think we're gonna win 4-1 (very likely that we'll concede a goal with Varane and Militao in the back  )

[casperBGD]

friendly reminder that Madrid are gonna miss a lot players today: Ramos, Vazquez, Nacho, Rodrygo, Carvajal and Valverde. Also, Zizou still in quarantine...anyone expecting an upset? not me, i think we're gonna win 4-1 (very likely that we'll concede a goal with Varane and Militao in the back  )

did not bother to watch the game, expected easy one for Real, but it was not and Levante took it from there, and goes home with three points
and it was a good day for Valencia, since beside Levante (which is situated in Valencia suburbs) Valencia CF also won match, it was not big, just 1:0, but good enough to catch breath from the relegation pressure, now we are thinking about Europe again , since Sociedad is down and we will catch them throughout the season

Sevilla done their part and won, maybe they could reach no.2 in the end, to see Real and Barca on third and fourth, would be great for underdogs

[Harkorede]

5 from 13 of us have made their picks for this round.

i forgot to submit my pick for yesterdays match...not like it mattered tho, nobody in the pool predicted the right outcome, we all got 0 points from that match so we stay in the same position in the leaderboard

friendly reminder that Madrid are gonna miss a lot players today: Ramos, Vazquez, Nacho, Rodrygo, Carvajal and Valverde. Also, Zizou still in quarantine...anyone expecting an upset? not me, i think we're gonna win 4-1 (very likely that we'll concede a goal with Varane and Militao in the back  )

I didn't expect Real Madrid to lose to Levante even at that number of players being missing as Real Madrid still played with host of high class players but still they got stunned at home by Levante.

I'm beginning to wonder if we can exclusively keep believing that the closeness in the table is due to Real Madrid and Barcelona playing woefully, or could as well say that other smaller teams are stepping up their games ??

[Trofo]

I'm beginning to wonder if we can exclusively keep believing that the closeness in the table is due to Real Madrid and Barcelona playing woefully, or could as well say that other smaller teams are stepping up their games ??

I am thinking it is because Real and Barca are way worse then previous seasons. Other teams like Atletico Madrid and Sevilla don't have problems playing against those same smaller teams. I'll grant there could be a factor that smaller teams give their absolute best against Real and Barca and now they are smelling blood in the water so they are probably pushing far beyond their "usual" performances.

It will always sound better if you can say that you won against Real Madrid than Atletico Madrid no matter their positions on the table

[LTU_btc]

I'm beginning to wonder if we can exclusively keep believing that the closeness in the table is due to Real Madrid and Barcelona playing woefully, or could as well say that other smaller teams are stepping up their games ??

I agree with @Trofo, Barca and Real become more vulnerable in recent seasons and this year this thing is visible best. Barca and Real just few years ago were main favorites to win Champions league almost every season, now they aren't.
Though, these underdogs also had made big steps forward in recent years. I remember times maybe 8-10 years ago when probably half of Barca and Real games against other teams ended with scores like 4:0, 5:0 or 6:0. Now I barely can remember when we last time won with such scoreline.

[slaman29]

I'm beginning to wonder if we can exclusively keep believing that the closeness in the table is due to Real Madrid and Barcelona playing woefully, or could as well say that other smaller teams are stepping up their games ??

I agree with @Trofo, Barca and Real become more vulnerable in recent seasons and this year this thing is visible best. Barca and Real just few years ago were main favorites to win Champions league almost every season, now they aren't.
Though, these underdogs also had made big steps forward in recent years. I remember times maybe 8-10 years ago when probably half of Barca and Real games against other teams ended with scores like 4:0, 5:0 or 6:0. Now I barely can remember when we last time won with such scoreline.

Tempting to think that smaller teams are getting better but you only need to look at the table and compare it with past seasons to see that that's not really true. The difference that's key is Barca and Real's positions, and to whom they lost the points to.

Atletico aside, who are in a better position than they've been, are the ones stepping up.

Valencia are stepping way down!

[slaman29]

Don't forget to make your picks! Alaves and Valladolid are the first games for Friday. I actually am going to start following the odds again now and maybe pick draws if the odds are too tight. Let's see if this makes a difference to my predictions scores. Or if luck again plays around with the scores. I give up on strategy:)

[Trofo]

Just watched a whole Barca game, it was due since I was neglecting them a bit this season. What a strange game of two halfs, Barca had no shots and no fouls in the first half. Then Koeman realized "no Messi no party" and made the changes which got us a much better second half. I am glad Trincao scored a beautiful winner which should help his confidence and first team chances.

Fun fact: Messi is close to breaking another record - most goals scored as substitute. Did not check it but somehow I am sure that he had much less games as sub then all the other guys on top of that list. Maybe we will see Messi entering at half time few more times this season