Soccer Betting Preview: La Liga Matchday 4 Odds

Real Madrid and Real Betis Put Perfect Records on the Line

La Liga’s two remaining perfect teams, Real Madrid and Real Betis meet this weekend in a much-awaited matchup. All eyes will be on that fixture but there are a handful of other great matches this weekend as well. While Real Madrid and Real Betis remain perfect, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, and Villarreal are still unbeaten. We’ll cover all of their matches and the La Liga Matchday 4 odds in this weekend’s preview.

Real Madrid vs Real Betis: Saturday, 10:15 a.m. EST

Real Madrid and Real Betis have both opened up the season 3-0 and are the top two teams in the La Liga standings. Saturday’s meeting at the Santiago Bernabeu will be the first real test for both of them. Defending La Liga champions Real Madrid is -215 favorites but Betis have done well in this fixture lately. The last three matches at the Santiago Bernabeu have finished in scoreless draws.

Incredibly, Betis are unbeaten in their last five away matches at Real Madrid. That could tempt bettors to take them to win, at +525 La Liga Matchday 4 odds, or draw at +425. Interestingly, Real Madrid is -140 favorites to cover the one-goal spread.

Betis defender German Pezzella is out due to a red card suspension. Meanwhile, all of Real Madrid’s key players are healthy. Real Madrid won 3-1 over Espanyol last weekend as Karim Benzema scored a late brace. Betis got their second shutout of the season by defeating Osasuna 1-0. Madrid is still looking for that elusive first shutout but has done it three times in a row at home vs Betis. Winning, though, is another story.

Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

This has the looks of one of the competitive Spanish La Liga fixtures of the weekend. Real Sociedad just lost striker Alexander Isak to Newcastle but managed a 1-0 win over Elche without him. Atletico Madrid also won 1-0 last weekend in a gritty effort on the road vs Valencia. Saturday’s match between Sociedad and Atleti is listed as a pick’em.

Visitors to Atletico Madrid are implied to be more likely to cover the spread, at -130 odds. Atleti won the last two La Liga meetings at the Reale Arena but lost there to Sociedad in the Copa del Rey last season. Diego Simeone’s Atletico comes in as +155 favorites, with Sociedad not far behind, at +190 odds. A draw, which has only occurred in two of the last ten matchups in all competitions, shows a +225 price.

Atletico has kept shutouts in two of their three matches so far and Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata both have two goals apiece. Meanwhile, Sociedad has also kept two shutouts but only managed to score one goal in each of their three matches. Without Isak and the injured Mikel Oyarzabal, Sociedad is crying out for an attacking player to step up.

Sevilla vs Barcelona: Saturday, 3:00 p.m.

Sevilla’s start to the season has been disastrous so far. It’s unsurprising that they’re struggling, given they lost both of their starting center backs over the Summer. One of them, Jules Kounde, may very well start this match for Barcelona. However, it’s hard to excuse Sevilla for losing to Osasuna and Almeria. At an inopportune time, Sevilla faces a Barcelona team brimming with confidence.

Barça has scored four goals in each of their last two matches and Robert Lewandowski has scored two braces in a row. It’s up to the new Sevilla signing from Bayern Munich, Tanguy Nianzou, to slow his former teammate Lewandowski down on Saturday. In this match of two 2022-23 UEFA Champions League clubs, Barcelona is priced as -115 favorites. The La Liga Matchday 4 odds list hosts Sevilla as +350 underdogs.

Last season, Sevilla held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in Seville. New additions like Raphinha and Lewandowski make this a much more dangerous Barcelona side, though. Barcelona over 1½ goals, at -125 odds, seems to be a popular bet this weekend as a result. These teams have drawn in two of their last three meetings in Seville and a draw shows +260 odds as well.

Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Sunday, 10:15 a.m.

Three games, three shutouts for Athletic Bilbao. They thrashed Cadiz 4-0 on the road last weekend as Gorka Guruzeta scored his first two La Liga goals. Although, key player Inaki Williams will miss their match vs Espanyol on Sunday. His absence isn’t predicted to have a huge effect as Bilbao is priced as -170 favorites.

Espanyol’s La Liga Matchday 4 odds show a +550 price to win, while a draw is listed at +300 odds. Three of the last five head-to-head matchups have finished in a 1-1 draw. Espanyol also hasn’t managed to score more than one goal vs Bilbao in any of the last 10 meetings. Athletic will undoubtedly want to continue their season-opening shutout streak here, though.

One-goal favorites Athletic are unbeaten in their last five matches vs Espanyol. They defeated them at the San Mames 2-1 last season but bettors aren’t expecting many goals in this one. The over/under goals total is listed at 2½ at a price of -125 for the over.

Villarreal vs Elche: Sunday, 12:30 p.m.

Like Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal is yet to concede a goal this season. After two weeks, they were on top of the La Liga table but drew 0-0 with Getafe last Sunday. Unai Emery’s team will be thinking about finishing in the top four this season and they’ll certainly be thinking about a win on Sunday. Villarreal is currently -255 favorites odds vs winless Elche in a Valencian derby.

After a run of three away matches to start the season, Villarreal will finally make their home La Liga debut. In their first match in front of their home fans this season, Villarreal are 1½-goal favorites. Villarreal beat Elche 4-1 at home last season and have never lost to them at the Estadio de la Ceramica. However, Villarreal is currently playing at Levante’s home stadium while the Estadio de la Ceramica is renovated.

Villarreal’s right back Juan Foyth looks set to miss out with a knee injury. Kiko Femenia is expected to fill in on Sunday. Despite Villarreal’s unbeaten run at home vs Elche, this is usually a competitive fixture. Four of their eight total meetings have finished in draws and a draw shows a +375 price for Sunday’s match.