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

[slaman29]

Real win on Sunday would be big step to tittle, but I wouldn't call it tittle before Christmas. I doubt that they're going to play so stable well all season long. Few bad gamesand fight is alive again. Like last season, Atletico had solid lead, but in the end they almost wasted it .

I think they will go all the way. Yes, I may be a little biased since I am a Real Madrid fan but unlike the Atlético Madrid situation last season. Real Madrid have good back up players waiting on the bench.

Atlético Started declining because of player fatigue. This season, they haven't been as good as we expected them to be. Real Madrid may not meet any serious resistance like in previous seasons. Anyway, time will tell.

I'm okay to call it a title if Real wins this one. Yes you never say anything until the season is over but just look at everyone's form. Even if they're good in La Liga they struggle in Europe (Europa/Champions League) and now it'll get even tougher with more cup games coming up.

Unless Real lose at least 2 games this month (apart from losing to Atletico), I'm putting the title on them. They have depth, they have talent, they have experience and they have form.

[tomahawk9]

So, Barca fans, looks like the club is ready to accept offers for Ter Stegen, Frankie de Dong and Dest in January. How do you feel about that?
I could see De Jong going to the EPL or maybe Bayern. I'm not sure about Dest, prolly a mid table club in the PL would be a good place for him, same with Ter Stegen who's been awful for the past 2 or 3 years

[Trofo]

New challenge is up, be careful guys I turned it back to yellow cards. Can't stand those corners, just seems so random to me. I would like to reward football knowledge and not luck but cards are also a bit ref dependent here. Looking for that perfect 3rd question.

This time I had to go with Madrid derby to finish it off. If Real wins this one that is basically already a title for them well before Christmas.

Great decision about corners. When I predict corners, I just pick random numbers without thinking much. Yeah, card depends on ref, but I think it's less random. You can predict it considering how dirty or not team is playing, is it there big rivalry between teams or simply check how many cards in average appointed ref shows.

Exactly, I always like card markets in some local derby games while I can't imagine a situation where I am sure about corners bet. Only problem with yellow cards is that it is much more difficult to grade. You get cards on bench and second yellow cards which can get you in tricky situations.

I am keeping to the rules which most bookies use. Cards on bench don't count, and I count just yellow cards.

[buwaytress]

Didn't realise I'd took yellow cap last round, but still some distance to get to the top. I'm really enjoying the season everywhere so far, but we're not even at halfway mark yet so plenty of fights and games left this month alone.

So, Barca fans, looks like the club is ready to accept offers for Ter Stegen, Frankie de Dong and Dest 
=
I could see De Jong going to the EPL or maybe Bayern. I'm not sure about Dest, prolly a mid table club in the PL would be a good place for him, same with Ter Stegen who's been awful for the past 2 or 3 years

Yeah I've not been convinced about the keeper for a while but I actually think guys like de Jong have been really underperforming, and as a result a lot of the burden's been on their young guys.

Read a tiny rumour about Gavi linked to Liverpool but I hardly pay attention and I know Klopp always does stealth buys, plus Gavi already tied down recently.

[casperBGD]

late goal to secure home win, was not nice to watch Valencia today, but we played efficiently, there was no balling, just concrete action, did not realized during the match, but 20+ shots on goal is really something

Bilbao and Sevilla tonight, really hard to guess the score

saw that some put Atletico in our side-game, do you really believe that Atletico can win in city derby?

[LTU_btc]

I think they will go all the way. Yes, I may be a little biased since I am a Real Madrid fan but unlike the Atlético Madrid situation last season. Real Madrid have good back up players waiting on the bench.

Atlético Started declining because of player fatigue. This season, they haven't been as good as we expected them to be. Real Madrid may not meet any serious resistance like in previous seasons. Anyway, time will tell.

As much as I hate to say, it's difficult to compete with Real this season. But I still expect that it's not going to be so easy for them as it looks now. Every team have ups and downs during season. It may happen because of injuries or team may start focusing on Champions league plaoyffs. Now I can't name exact years, but in last decade I remember seasons where Real or Barca had deep squads and where already almost crowned as champions before Christmas, but almsot wasted whole solid lead in last rounds.
But the main problem this season that none of teams from chasing group doesn't looks capable to compete with Real all season long.

late goal to secure home win, was not nice to watch Valencia today, but we played efficiently, there was no balling, just concrete action, did not realized during the match, but 20+ shots on goal is really something

Bilbao and Sevilla tonight, really hard to guess the score

saw that some put Atletico in our side-game, do you really believe that Atletico can win in city derby?

When Elche equalised score, I thought, 'oh shit, here we go again. But Valencia deserved to win today. I haven't paid much attention to Valencia place on table, I thought it's much worse, but 7th isn't bad at all, they have decent chances to return to Europe.
I put draw on Madrid derby. Not that because I have much faith in Atletico, I just don't want such easy life for Real in La Liga .

[Lordhermes]

So, Barca fans, looks like the club is ready to accept offers for Ter Stegen, Frankie de Dong and Dest in January. How do you feel about that?
I could see De Jong going to the EPL or maybe Bayern. I'm not sure about Dest, prolly a mid table club in the PL would be a good place for him, same with Ter Stegen who's been awful for the past 2 or 3 years

Why do they want to sell such players? I know Barcelona are actually struggling for form at the moment,Xavi just came and he's coaching them at moment.
But as it stands now,Barcelona does not have players that  can contest  or compete for any trophy with Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid. All they need is to start afresh,get people that are fond of  each other  and players who have passion to play for the team.

[Trofo]

I put draw on Madrid derby. Not that because I have much faith in Atletico, I just don't want such easy life for Real in La Liga .

Would be nice to see Real spilling some points but I think they are much better than their rival Atletico at the moment. Atletico is left at weird place at the moment, they started playing more attack minded and lost a lot of their iron defense. They are not good enough to outscore top teams and they can't count on the clean sheets and 1:0 victories any more. As it stands this is both to score for me on ticket and Real win with result like 3:1.

[slaman29]

saw that some put Atletico in our side-game, do you really believe that Atletico can win in city derby?

Sometimes in football when you belong to a tribe then you are always tempted to bet against the enemy. Real is forever the foe of Barca and I know now we cannot win it so we support ANY team against Real

In this case though the derby has been swinging towards Atletico in recent years and I think they want to win this big time. They have to or it will be a boring season of waiting for Real to claim the title lol

[tomahawk9]

friendly reminder that Osasuna put up a good fight against Atletico, but still lost 1-0 with a late goal. They also drew vs. Real madrid and looked pretty decent against Sociedad despite losing 0-2...gonna be a close game today. i have 2-1 Barcelona in the pool but i think none of us would be surprised if Barca end up dropping points

Read a tiny rumour about Gavi linked to Liverpool but I hardly pay attention and I know Klopp always does stealth buys, plus Gavi already tied down recently.

yeah i don't see Gavi leaving any time soon. I think Gavi, Fati and Araujo are like the key players in Xavi's long-term plan in the club

Why do they want to sell such players? [...]

Money. The club needs money to rebuild and the best way to get it asap it's by selling players that you know are valuable right now. Despite those players underperforming lately, I think that Barca could still get around 80-100 million for all of them. I'd say that's enough cash to start fixing the finances of the club just a bit and also sign a few quality players to strengthen the squad

Sometimes in football when you belong to a tribe then you are always tempted to bet against the enemy. Real is forever the foe of Barca and I know now we cannot win it so we support ANY team against Real

sentiment of a true barca fan right there 👍

[buwaytress]

Read a tiny rumour about Gavi linked to Liverpool but I hardly pay attention and I know Klopp always does stealth buys, plus Gavi already tied down recently.

yeah i don't see Gavi leaving any time soon. I think Gavi, Fati and Araujo are like the key players in Xavi's long-term plan in the club

Yeah, I've been a long time fan of Fati (not sure about Gavi, though his EURO performance was absolutely scintillating I have to admit I don't really know how well he plays in regular games) and I'd rather see these guys grow and generate the next era of glory for Barca. A club I've always admired.

You're right about Osasuna today, and if the odds were prettier, I'd take them on easy... but match already underway and odds don't look like they're plunging any time now... unless we see Barca play like shit (and this isn't the unlikeliest). Let's see!

[casperBGD]

~snip

When Elche equalised score, I thought, 'oh shit, here we go again. But Valencia deserved to win today. I haven't paid much attention to Valencia place on table, I thought it's much worse, but 7th isn't bad at all, they have decent chances to return to Europe.

yeah, we actually skipped Barca on position 7, and Barca is on 8, which shows how bad is Barca this season
I have a feeling that we are shit, and at the moment, Barca is worse (although one game less)

regarding tonight, Betis scored early lead, and I do think that Real will win tonight

Sevilla is an interesting one, did not expect them to win last night in Bilbao, they simply cannot play against Barca, Real and Atletico, and with all the others they are favorites

[Trofo]

Read a tiny rumour about Gavi linked to Liverpool but I hardly pay attention and I know Klopp always does stealth buys, plus Gavi already tied down recently.

yeah i don't see Gavi leaving any time soon. I think Gavi, Fati and Araujo are like the key players in Xavi's long-term plan in the club

You forgot about Pedri, he is by far the best of the mentioned, just fallen off the map a little after injuries got him. No surprise, since he played like 80 full games for Barca and Spain Last season. I expected him to get holidays after the tournament with Spain and instead he plays full 90 minutes in first game of the new season. They totally overused him.

[Harkorede]

Real Madrid have continued their fine form in the league, and winning convincingly against Atletico Madrid have just help towards their potential title claim, while Barcelona and Xavi are still struggling to get a hold of themselves.

Everything is going in Real Madrid direction, and they don't look like they will be stopping anytime soon.

[Trofo]

Real Madrid have continued their fine form in the league, and winning convincingly against Atletico Madrid have just help towards their potential title claim, while Barcelona and Xavi are still struggling to get a hold of themselves.

Everything is going in Real Madrid direction, and they don't look like they will be stopping anytime soon.

Wanted to watch the match but ended up playing one myself so I could not. Everything went pretty much like I expected only thought that Atletico will be able to score at least one goal in defeat. Judging from stats and reports, Courtois got the best grade in Real together with Modric so Atletico had their chances. Modric playing on extremely high level with 36 years getting praise from all Spanish sport journals, hope he will not get spent before the season ends.

[buwaytress]

You forgot about Pedri, he is by far the best of the mentioned, just fallen off the map a little after injuries got him. No surprise, since he played like 80 full games for Barca and Spain Last season. I expected him to get holidays after the tournament with Spain and instead he plays full 90 minutes in first game of the new season. They totally overused him.

In the good old days, most coaches protected their young players, and I think our Klopp is one of those who still does (Moyes is another I know who's extremely careful about not burning out their youth too soon). It's probably one of the trickiest things to do, develop young talent without burning them out or ruining their confidence, while taking them to their best. Every individual's different too but I feel like these days they're all chucked out too soon and then they fade so quickly (usually through exhaustion).

[trendcoin]

there will be only one game played in la liga today. cadiz - granada does not look like an exciting match, but it can be an alternative option for football fans who are in search. cadiz has only 2 wins and 6 draws in 16 weeks. they have a bad performance. granada looks a little better than cadiz, but they don't perform well either. such matches decide the fate at the end of the league. both teams will play to win. my prediction: the match ends in a draw or granada wins.

[casperBGD]

we have Andalusian derby tonight, Cadiz is playing Granada
and yeah, it looks boring from the beginning, but Granada is a bit better at the moment

Real won yesterday, they will not let this points like Atletico last season, and although there is a lot to play till the end, I think that they took the title already

one image from TrollFootball regarding title race

[slaman29]

@casperBGD nice image share lol I didn't quote post to save space but you're right. Last season Atletico had a huge huge cushion that was slowly eaten up. And they had Suarez finding ways to pop in goals at a pace that shouldn't have been possible. But he's tired and injured, and Simeone's team is suffering the usual comedown from such intense psychological effort.

I hate saying the race is over but it is.

BTW well done on Yellow Cap and #1 position.

[Trofo]

BTW well done on Yellow Cap and #1 position.

This was a good week for most of us, really surprised how many correct scores we got. But still, casperBGD and PLGuru managed to get a couple of points more and raise their on the table. Congrats guys, hope you managed to cash those predictions on some ticket as well.

We have Spanish cup during the week so no challenge games until the week end, will grade and post new one a bit later.