La Liga Round 3 Preview: Barcelona Look To Continue Solid Start To Title Defence

Barcelona host newcomers Huesca, while title contenders Atletico Madrid face trip to Celta Vigo

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The third round of matches in Spain’s La Liga are set to get underway on Friday evening (31 August) with three games. Then, over the weekend, all three main title contenders are in action, with Atletico Madrid facing the toughest task with a trip to take on Celta Vigo.

First things first

Before you go any further, head on over to the Oddsshark website, find your favourite betting site and get your own account up and running via your credit card. As a new customer and with the new La Liga season having already kicked off, there should be a whole host of promotions and offers available to you.

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On the Friday night, Villarreal look to get their first win of the new season under their belts when they host Girona. The Yellow Submarine have just one point so far but did manage to hold Sevilla to a goalless draw last time out.

Girona, meanwhile, are in a similar situation. They are also yet to win this season and have a single point, and this game could be a scrappy, low scoring affair.

And there looks to be precious little to pick between these two teams. Last season, both sides won one game apiece, curiously enough with each team winning on the road.

And with home advantage as well as the stronger squad, it is Villarreal who come into the match as favourites to get their first win of the season. They are at just 1.57 to take all three points, with visitors Girona all the way out at 6.00 – a narrow, 1-0 win for Villarreal is priced at 6.50, while under 2.5 goals in the game comes in at 1.85, according to Oddsshark.

Atletico Madrid already playing catch up

Atletico Madrid travel to Celta Vigo on the Saturday afternoon looking to make up for lost ground on Barcelona and Real Madrid. The club from the capital have won their last five games against Celta Vigo and will be confident of taking the points on this occasion as well.

Atletico could only manage a 1-0 win against Rayo Vallecano and their profligacy in front of goal could well cost them dear. Antoine Griezmann got the only goal of that game, and the World Cup winner is at just 2.20 to get on the score sheet here, while you can back him at 4.50 to score either the first or last goal of the game.

And Atletico come into this game as favourites to make it two league wins in a row. Diego Simeone’s side are at just 1.70 to take all three points, with Celta out at 5.50 to stop their recent rot against these opponents.

A 2-1 win for the visitors is priced at 8.50, meaning that a US$5 bet would lead to a US$42.50 pay out. You could also more than double your money by backing over 2.5 goals in the game at 2.10, while both teams to score is at 2.00.

Fierce derby concludes La Liga weekend

And finally, the most mouth-watering of this weekend’s La Liga action comes from Seville, with Real Betis set to host local rivals Sevilla. Betis, who finished sixth last season, have made a disappointing start to the new campaign and are yet to pick up a win and have not scored a goal either.

Sevilla, by way of comparison, made an excellent start to the season, thrashing Rayo Vallecano 4-1 before being held to a goalless draw by Villarreal. They can, however, be buoyed by their recent impressive record against their old rivals – Sevilla have won 10 and lost just four of the last 20 matches between these two teams.

Back in May, these two played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in this fixture, with the odds on that happening again coming in at 10.00. The game at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan home produced a hugely thrilling 5-3 win for Betis, and one thing we might reasonably expect in this game is goals – over 2.5 goals in the match is priced at just 1.57.

And looking at the outcome of the match, it is Sevilla who come in as slight favourites to get a second league win of the season in the bank. The visitors are at 2.37 to take all three points, with home side Betis higher at 2.90 – a 2-1 win for Sevilla is priced at 9.50, offering close to a ten-fold return on any investment.

La Liga round 3 fixtures:

Friday, 31 August

(1.70) Getafe x Valladolid (5.50); draw (3.40)

(2.87) Eibar x Real Sociedad (2.50); draw (3.20)

(1.57) Villarreal x Girona (6.00); draw (3.80)

Saturday, 1 September

(5.50) Celta Vigo x Atletico Madrid (1.70); draw (3.40)

(1.14) Real Madrid x Leganes (17.00); draw (7.50)

Sunday, 2 September

(3.80) Levante x Valencia (2.00); draw (3.30)

(2.80) Alaves x Espanyol (2.62); draw (3.10)

(1.083) Barcelona x Huesca (24.00); draw (10.00)

(2.90) Real Betis x Sevilla (2.37); draw (3.40)