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Football betting tips: La Liga

2 Points Over 23.5 shots in Athletic Club vs Valencia at Evens (Unibet)

2 points over 12.5 Barcelona shoots vs Real Sociedad at 4/5 (Unibet)

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Athletic Club vs Valencia

Ernesto Valverde will be delighted that Athletic Club are given the opportunity to rectify mistakes made in the opening game, back in San Mames to face Gennaro Gattuso’s Valencia.

Bilbao looked all too familiar with last season in Monday’s second leg, missing good chances of victory in a 0-0 draw with Mallorca (xG: BIL 2.02 – 0.54 MAL).

Athletic Club took 23 shots in that game and looked very dangerous until the point came to hit the net which puts us in the selection for this game.

The Evens are available at Unibet for OVER 23.5 TOTAL RECORDINGS in the game makes an appeal in the face of opposition from Bilbao. Valencia will be a tougher test for the hosts, who are expected to choke Bilbao more than Mallorca, but it’s worth betting that this is a fairly open game.

Despite Gennaro Gattuso’s reputation as a player, his approach as a coach is refreshingly enterprising.

His start in La Liga at Valencia was off to a good start as he beat newly promoted Girona by a goal from zero. Despite being a man down for 40 minutes, Valencia still attempted 17 shots for 1.81 goals expected.

An entertaining duel with hopefully many shots on goal can be expected here.

Outcome Prediction: Athletic Club 1-1 Valencia (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)

Odds correct 1800 BST (08/18/22)

Real Sociedad versus Barcelona

Real Sociedad’s defense is far from outstanding but showed itself as solid as ever in the opening game of the new season, keeping a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Cádiz (xG: CAD 0.33 – 2.32 RSO) .

However, Barcelona make a completely different statement, especially in their current form.

Despite the undoubted disappointment of the 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou, there is reason for encouragement with Barca’s new-look attack, which fired 21 shots, equivalent to 2.18 xG, with some flat performances from some.

Dusted with some rust that ABOVE on a line 12.5 BARCELONA SHOT a value selection appears.

Real Sociedad will certainly be fighting for a European spot this season but their defense could face a barrage of shots against the league’s most talented team.

Xavi’s side seemed a little prone to conceding chances against Rayo, but conceding wouldn’t hurt this selection in the slightest. If Barca score first, that opens the game for the likes of Ousmane Dembélé and Raphinha on the counterattack.

As the visitors will be dominating the ball as usual, it’s a huge bonus that game status is unlikely to play a role in the settlement of this bet.

Outcome Prediction: Real Sociedad 1-2 Barcelona (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)

Odds correct 2100 BST (08/18/22)

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