Mallorca - Valladolid

Mallorca suffered the fourth away defeat of the season as they lost 4:2 at Camp Nou and you probably remember that the only point from the travels was brought after they scored in injury time with nine men against Atletico. Valladolid missed a great chance to climb to the top half of the table as they couldn’t beat Xerez at home.

Mallorca impressive at home

Two weeks ago Mallorca lost in Valladolid 2:1 and their only goal was scored through Martin after a dubious penalty. The main problem at the moment is their performances on the travels, whereas they are outstanding at home, winning all five games and boasting a goal difference 13:1. Gregorio Manzano’s team won last two home games with Valladolid without conceding and considering Valladolid are struggling on the travels, we see a good value in backing Mallorca not to score at 2.25 offered by William Hill.

Mallorca scored in all but the Sevilla game this season and this proves the attack is in full working order. Boss Gregorio Manzano will not be able to count on top scorer Aduriz, who scored five goals in first seven rounds before picking up injury that will see him miss next few weeks of action. Even without Aduriz, the hosts are the favourites here and we expect them to continue the five-match winning run at ONO Stadium. Hence, odds of 1.86 offered by Betfair on home win are really attractive.

Valladolid have every reason to fear this match

Valladolid deservedly won the first leg but even though they completely outplayed the visitors, they don’t have such a big advantage before the return leg. When we add to that the 3:0 defeat at ONO in Primera a month and a half ago, it seems their efforts in the first leg were in vain because Mallorca would go through even with a narrow win. This is why the visitors are likely to adopt a bit more adventurous approach, but that will leave the hosts a lot of space to hurt keeper Jacobo Sanz. Therefore, you should consider backing Mallorca to score over 1.5 goals at 1.75 offered by Betfair.

The teams are tied on seven wins each when we are talking about their meetings but the interesting thing is Valladolid are yet to win away to Mallorca. After their last 3:0 defeat at ONO Stadium, the team entered the five-match scoring run that was ended with a goalless draw against Xerez last weekend. Coach Jose Luis Mendilibar faces a real selection headache because Font, Asier and Jacobo are all out with injuries and that could be a problem. Seeing the visitors failed to score against the worst defence in the league, we don’t think they can score against Mallorca. This is why odds of 2.60 offered by Expekt on Valladolid not to score look too good to pass.

Betting verdict

Even though Valladolid won the first leg, they are major underdogs in this match. Mallorca won all their home games this season, while they are yet to lose at home to Valladolid, thus we are pretty sure they will make it to the next round.

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Espanyol - Getafe

Espanyol ended the good run of results as they lost in Gijon and they face a difficult task in this match having lost the first leg 2:0. Getafe surprisingly lost at home to nine-man La Coruna and they are thus in similar situation as their opponents.

Two-goal deficit from the first leg

After the somewhat slow start of the league campaign, Espanyol rediscovered their form and entered the seven-match unbeaten run that was ended last weekend as they lost to Sporting in Gijon. Two weeks ago the Catalans deservedly lost to Getafe 2:0 in the Copa del Rey first leg and it is more than clear they have to show improvement in order to make it to the next round. Espanyol are set to try and score as early as possible since that looks like the only way to overturn the deficit. Considering the Catalans only once failed to score in home game against Getafe, we see a good value in backing Espanyol to score within first 15 minutes at odds of 3.50 offered by William Hill.

During the last 13 meetings between the teams, both teams scored in only four games. Espanyol managed to keep a clean sheet in almost half of the games against Getafe, while their defence is doing extremely well this season. Therefore, you should try backing Espanyol to keep a clean sheet at 2.38 offered by William Hill.

Two and a half years without a win in Barcelona

Getafe are pretty inconsistent this season, thus nobody was surprised when 2:0 wins over Espanyol and Bilbao were followed by 2:0 defeats to Real and La Coruna. Coach Michel is without Fabio Celestini and David Cortes, who picked up injuries last weekend and are unlikely to recover in time for this match. After the opening win in Santander, Getafe lost four straight away games, while they conceded in every away game this season. On the other hand, they scored in just two of those games and we see a good value in betting on only one team to score at 2.20 offered by Sportingbet.

Two weeks ago, Getafe improved on their record against Espanyol that had seen them win just one of the previous six games and the interesting thing is that it was the Catalans who scored the first goal in every one of those games. Therefore, you should seriously consider backing Espanyol to score the first goal at 1.62 offered by Bet365.

Betting verdict

We didn’t see a lot of chances in the first match between the teams two weeks ago but Getafe, nevertheless, emerged victorious. Espanyol played six straight under 2.5 goals games, while Getafe’s last four matches ended under 2.5, thus you have a clear picture on what to expect from this match.

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Mallorca - Valladolid

Espanyol - Getafe