More misery on the way for Rayo

Rayo Vallecano copped a derby hiding from Atletico Madrid last weekend and this weekend it is under the odds to get anything from its Spanish Primera Division away match against Levante, a team ranked 11 places above it.

Levante has a negative Spanish Primera Division record – seven wins, six draws and eight losses – but such is the top-flight dominance of Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid that only four other teams are hitting above .500 after 21 rounds. Rayo Vallecano is certainly not one of those sides as it is stuck in the relegation zone having registered five wins, one draw and 15 losses.

Sometimes one looks at a list of betting odds and cannot believe one’s eyes. It is very surprising to see bookmakers quoting Levante at odds against to beat Rayo Vallecano, with the best odds on offer being the 2.25 available from several operators, including Bet 365 and MyBet. One had expected to see Levante trading at odds of 2.00 or shorter.

Levante has played three games versus Rayo Vallecano already this season. The first meeting of the teams resulted in 2-1 away victory and three Spanish Primera Division points for Levante. Rayo Vallecano had to cope with only 10 men for the last 30 minutes but Levante led anyway when Lassane Bangoura was red carded. The second and third meetings of the sides took place in the Spanish Copa del Rey, with Levante drawing the first leg 0-0 on the road and winning the second leg 1-0 at home. So the head-to-head data supports Levante strongly.

Before playing back-to-back home matches against Barcelona, Levante had won four games on the bounce in front of its fans. Rayo Vallecano will travel to the suburb of Valencia having lost three matches in a row, with its latest reverse being its 2-4 home derby defeat to Atletico Madrid.

Levante’s city rival, Valencia, has the daunting task of facing Barcelona at Camp Nou as Barca tries to maintain its narrow lead in the Spanish Primera Division title race. And Paddy Power is being too generous in offering odds of 2.00 that Barcelona records a win with a clean sheet to boot.

Valencia’s away form has been appalling for many seasons, not just the current one. Valencia has lost six of its ten Spanish Primera Division road games, scoring just eight times. Barcelona has a perfect ten out of ten home record in the league, conceding only six times. Every goal counts for Barcelona in its scrap with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid for the championship so one can bet safe in the knowledge that Barca are not going to gift a goal to Valencia. If Valencia scores then it will have earned its goal. Barcelona beat Valencia 1-0 in last term’s corresponding match.

Finally, Granada is the under king of the Spanish Primera Division so one should be interested in odds of 1.73 with BetVictor that the division’s least entertaining team to watch combines with Celta for under two and a half goals.

Granada’s Spanish Primera Division games are averaging 2.19 goals, with 12 out of 21 going under two and a half goals and none of them featuring more than four goals. At home, Granada’s over/under split is 6-5 in favour of under but three of the overs occurred in losses to top-seven sides.

Celta has failed to score in any of its last three Spanish Primera Division away matches, with its barren scoring run on the road extending to 393 minutes if one includes its 0-4 Spanish Copa del Rey loss to Bilbao. The reverse top-flight fixture resulted in a 1-1 draw towards the beginning of the term so, clearly, there is a strong case for another under.