30-08-2007 La Liga Betting - Week 2 Preview

Spanish first team action returned last week but the excitement was over-shadowed by the death of Sevilla defender, Antonio Puerta. The club will participate in the Super Cup, but Monday’s fixture against Osasuna has been postponed. The remainder of La Liga’s week two fixtures go ahead, observing a minute’s silence. PinnacleSports.com will as ever be offering up to 60% better odds.

There are only three clubs that have never been relegated from the Primera Division of La Liga, and two of them – Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao – meet at the Nou Camp on Sunday. Both sides drew their opening games, which on the part of Barca will be seen as something of a disappointment. The Catalans were pipped to last season’s title by Real Madrid, while Bilbao finished just one place above the relegation zone, threatening their proud history in La Liga.

Bilbao operate a strict Cantera squad policy, which dictates that players can be drawn only from the seven basque provinces of Spain and France. In recent seasons the club has struggled under these self-imposed restrictions, battling against relegation for two successive years. Expectation was high that with the signing of Thierry Henry, Barcelona would be start the season with a bang, whereas they struggled to breakdown Racing Santander and Henry only played a substitute role. The story could be different in front of their own fans as Samuel Eto’o is a definite absentee, so Henry should play from the start alongside Messi and Ronaldinho. PinnacleSports.com price Barcelona 1.980 (-1.5 & -2) with Athletic Bilbao 1.943 (+1.5 & +2).

Real Madrid Out to Sink Yellow Submarine

After a forgettable pre-season, Real Madrid and new coach, Bernd Schuster, began the defence of their La Liga title in the worst possible way, by conceding in the first minute of their opening game at home to Atletico Madrid. The Galacticos did however response quickly, and eventually won the game with the winner struck by one of the club’s big many new Dutch signings, Wesley Sneijder. Sneijder is anticipated to have a positive impact alongside compatriots Arjen Robben and Rosyton Drenthe, bought during the summer. The new look side will given a stern test at the Madrigal Stadium taking on a Villarreal side that opened their campaign with an impressive 3-0 win away to Valencia. Nevertheless PinnacleSports.com make the home side slight underdogs with Villarreal 1.826 (0/scratch & +0.5) with Real Madrid 2.110 (0/scratch & -0.5).

Almeria Looking to Repeat First Week Heroics

FC Almeria were in dreamland after beginning their first ever season in La Liga with a stunning 3-0 win away to Deportivo La Coruna. Almeria were widely tipped to struggle in the top flight, but confounded their doubters with the emphatic victory. Bolstered by the result, the Andalucians welcome Valencia, who experienced a polar opposite result in their first game. Los Che were humbled 3-0 at home to Villarreal, so coach, Quique Flores, will be looking for an immediate response. With a capacity of just 15,000 Almeria’s stadium – Estadio del Mediterraneo – is the smallest in the division, providing an intimidating venue for the visitors. Despite their early form PinnacleSports.com have Valencia as favourites 2.09 (0/scratch & -0.5) with Almeria 1.84 (0/scratch & +0.5).

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