La Liga Predictions, Picks and Betting Preview October 20-22

Betting Preview for La Liga Matches October 20-22

WagerTalk La Liga handicapper Kevin Dolan presents his October 20-22 La Liga predictions and betting preview around key La Liga matches including Osasuna vs Granada and Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao. Which teams is he looking to pick up points and which will have goal scoring? Read his La Liga betting tips now!

Osasuna vs Granada | Friday October 20 | 3:00pm ET

Osasuna -130 | Granada +350 | Draw +280

Spanish domestic league action resumes this Friday as Granada travels over to Pamplona to take on Osasuna at the Estadio El Sadar ahead of Matchday 10.

It’s fair to say both sides will be fairly disappointed with how this season has started overall, with Osasuna sitting bottom half in the table while Granada languishes down in the relegation zone, but Friday’s game will present an opportunity to rectify that in what could prove to be a massive early season three points for either side.

For the home team Osasuna, it’s been a dismal run of just one win from their last seven games overall as they’ve continued to slide down the table from their bright start of two wins from their opening three league games.

A large part of that has been the home form for Osasuna as well, with ‘Los Rojillos’ sitting as one of only three teams in the league yet to win a game at home this season, and rank as the coldest team on recent form as well, averaging just 0.25 PPG at El Sadar over their last five starts.

For Granada it’s been even worse, with just six points banked from a possible 27 to open up the 2023-24 campaign, with the Nasrids giving up the league’s second-highest goals allowed tally also at a huge 2.56 GAPG on average. Only bottom of the table Almeria have given up more.

Both teams have a split record of W2, D1, L2 across their last five head-to-heads in this series, with their last meeting in this venue back in October 2021 (Granada played in the Segunda Division last season), finishing all square as well in what’s tended to be an extremely tight set of fixtures historically.

Three of the last four draws between the two sides have finished exactly 1-1 and that’s the way we’ll look in this one at a big price on Friday night between two sides who can ill afford another loss.

Prediction: Correct Score 1-1 (+600)

Sevilla vs Real Madrid | Saturday October 21 | 12:30pm ET

Sevilla +310 | Real Madrid -120 | Draw +280

over to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to take on a struggling Sevilla side on Saturday.

After a somewhat sub-par opening to the season for Madrid who sat 5th in the goal charts near the end of September, Los Blancos have really hit gear in front of nets over their last few games, scoring at least three goals in all of their three previous fixtures.

That shortfall from the loss of top goalscorer Karim Benzema over the summer took a while to adjust, but has since been filled by Jude Bellingham who sits as La Liga’s top scorer this season on eight goals with a 40% team contribution rate also, both #1 on the season.

For Sevilla, despite their heroics in the Europa League just a few short months ago, it’s been a second season of disappointment for them domestically as the ‘Rojiblancos’ try and stave off relegation worries once again to start the 2023-24 campaign.

Just two wins from their opening eight league games has done little to allay those concerns, and the arrival of a red-hot Real Madrid side this weekend will do even less so, but Sevilla has at least been dependable at home of late, going unbeaten in three straight games here.

Real Madrid faces a tricky test to Braga next week, a team who took all three points in Germany last time out against Union Berlin and who ran Napoli extremely close in their opening Champions League game as well, with a late own goal being their only undoing in that one, so Madrid definitely can’t afford to treat that European tie lightly on Tuesday.

For Sevilla, they host Arsenal on that very same night over in Group B, so equally need to be as switched on for that one in what’s shaping up to be one of the tightest groups in the Champions League for this season.

Real Madrid simply to win the game at current odds of -115 certainly appeals given both teams’ recent form of late, plus the fact Madrid has won in all of their last four visits to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as well.

However, with the Over 2.5 goals set at a very reasonable -136 also, we’ll instead opt for that as our main selection here in a game we expect to be a high-scoring affair over in Sevilla this weekend.

Prediction: Over 2.5 (-136)

Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao | Sunday October 22 | 3:00pm ET

Barcelona -160 | Athletic Bilbao +425 | Draw +310

Top five clash in LaLiga on Sunday as third-placed Barcelona look to close the gap on league leaders Real Madrid with a home victory against fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao this weekend over at the Estadio Olimpico, with the historic Camp Nou shut down for major renovations this season.

Barcelona remains as the only unbeaten side in LaLiga this season, but this has been marred by one of the highest draw rates also as they’ve been forced to rally back from early deficits in recent games, against both Granada and Mallorca respectively, just in order to snatch a point.

That poor form hasn’t stretched to Europe however where the Catalan giants remain perfect on the season, and head coach Xavi will know another three points against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday effectively takes care of qualification for early 2024.

In terms of Athletic Bilbao, they’ve lost just twice this season themselves, but both of those losses did come against top six sides in Real Madrid and Real Sociedad respectively, and the Basque club has tended to struggle against the more elite teams in the league, especially away from home.

Barcelona has netted four times against Athletic Bilbao in both of their recent visits here, and with a healthy +210 being offered right now on the home side to score 3 or more goals in this game, that could be well worth a look here considering Athletic Bilbao rank bottom half in the league this season in set-piece goals allowed.

Prediction: Barcelona Team Total Over 2.5 (+210)