La Liga: Real Betis Seek Another Winning Trip to Catalonia

RCD Espanyol vs Real Betis

Real Betis have been one of the biggest surprises of the La Liga season thus far. They are flying high in third place, four points clear of defending champions Atletico Madrid.

Betis are coming off a big win in midweek, and they will look to strengthen their hold on third spot even further when they travel to Barcelona to face Espanyol.

Los Verdiblancos beat Barcelona in their most recent trip to Catalonia, and the La Liga 2022 betting odds like their chances of doing the same against Espanyol, who have not been the most consistent side of late.

Talking Points

Espanyol continue to rely heavily on RDT

Espanyol have had a rough last couple of games. After suffering a shock 2-1 loss at home to relegation-threatened Elche, they very nearly lost to second-from-bottom Cadiz in midweek. They needed a late stoppage-time equaliser from Raul de Tomas to salvage a 2-2 draw.

de Tomas is almost singlehandedly keeping Espanyol afloat in midtable. The 27-year-old striker has scored 11 of the team’s 25 goals this season, including two in the first three games of 2022.

Aside from de Tomas, Espanyol don’t have much of a Plan B in attack, so they can only hope the Spanish international can continue his fine form.

Meanwhile, Espanyol have also been lacking in defence. They have already conceded 26 goals this season and have not kept a clean sheet in any competition since the end of November.

First-choice defender Leandro Cabrera will miss the match due to suspension, which will further weaken their backline. Fernando Calero looks set to step in and make just his third start of the season alongside Sergi Gomez.

Espanyol’s defence has been markedly better at home, though, and has been a big reason for their success at the RCDE Stadium this season. They have won six of their 10 home games, with two draws and two defeats.

Betis finally bounce back from rough patch

Real Betis put the chaotic scenes of their Copa del Rey clash with rivals Sevilla behind them as they returned to winning ways in La Liga with a dominant 4-0 win over relegation strugglers Deportivo Alaves.

It was Betis’ first win in four La Liga matches. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had suffered back-to-back defeats to Athletic Bilbao (3-2) and Celta Vigo (0-2) and drew 1-1 away to Rayo Vallecano. But because of Atletico Madrid’s ongoing struggles, Betis are still four points clear of the champions in the race for third place.

Borja Iglesias had a brilliant brace in the win over Alaves, while Sergio Canales continued his recent hot streak with his third goal in as many games.

Juanmi also snapped his recent cold spell with his first goal in three games. The 28-year-old is having a remarkable season and is La Liga’s joint-second leading scorer with 12 league goals, the most he’s ever had in a single season in his career.

As if Betis’ attack wasn’t already strong enough, they also received a big boost with the return of striker Willian Jose from injury. The Brazilian has been terrific in his first season with Betis and already has 5 goals and 4 assists in 17 La Liga appearances.

But Los Verdiblancos are still missing key defensive personnel in Martin Montoya and Paul Akouokou due to injury, while Marc Bartra is also doubtful to play.

Betis have been fairly decent away from home this season, with 5 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses in 10 games. However, they have only managed to score 14 of their 37 goals outside the Benito Villamarin Stadium.

History

It has been quite a while since Real Betis have lost to Espanyol. Their last defeat came in 2017, when Espanyol won 1-0 at home. After that, Betis have gone unbeaten in their last eight meetings in all competitions, six of which have come in La Liga (three wins, three draws).

Espanyol and Betis played out quite an exciting 2-2 draw in their first meeting this season. Espanyol equalised deep in stoppage time through Leandro Cabrera to deny the hosts a home win.

The two sides also drew this fixture 2-2 back in the 2019-20 season, this time with Betis equalising in the second half after losing an early lead.

Betting Tip

	RCD Espanyol vs Real Betis	1X2 Real Betis @ 2.44
	January 22, 04:00 (GMT+8)

The SBOTOP odds for this match are quite close. Real Betis are slight 2.44 favourites, while Espanyol are priced at 2.83 to get the home win. A draw is 3.25.

Espanyol are certainly capable of scoring the upset here. They have a strong home record and have a legitimate match-winner in Raul de Tomas.

But Real Betis have more weapons at their disposal with Juanmi, Willian Jose, Canales, and Nabil Fekir. Expect one of them to find a way past the Espanyol defence in what should be quite a competitive affair.

 

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