Deportivo La Coruña v Alavés Betting Tips: Visitors too big ahead of cup clash

One of Tuesday night’s Copa del Rey matches sees La Coruña welcome Alavés to Estadio Riazor.

Before Christmas saw football put to one side in Spain, La Coruña made it through to the last-16 of this competition courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Real Betis having previously lost 1-0 in the first-leg.

As for Alavés, the Basque club could hardly have been more convincing in beating Gimnàstic 6-0 on aggregate to reach this stage of the competition and, considering the season they’re having in general, they’ll surely fancy their chances of progressing further.

Of the two teams, it is newly promoted Alavés who left the better impression during the first half of the La Liga campaign and they’re fancied to continue doing well by getting a positive result in this match. With this in mind, the disparity in the odds offered on a win either way seem quite strange. Admittedly, La Coruña are quite a decent side at home, but do they really warrant odds-on favouritism? Definitely not. Alavés have proven themselves to be a tough side to beat this season and, on this basis, they look far too big at odds of 3/1.

Backing the visitors to win certainly wouldn’t be the worst bet; however, a better option, at a very generous 2/1, is ‘Alavés Draw No Bet’. The visitors were in fine shape before the Christmas period and it would be no surprise if they returned in much the same form.

Before brushing aside second division Gimnàstic, Mauricio Pellegrino’s team secured an impressive victory over Betis, while they were unbeaten in four matches prior to that. Babazorros El Glorioso have thrived on the road and are currently on an unbeaten run of five when playing away from home – an unbeaten run which has seen them keep no less than five clean sheets in a row. It’s fair to say that Pellegrino has his team very, very well-drilled.

The hosts were also in fairly decent form before the break, although they really do remain a less than secure-looking team defensively and you can’t help but think that the counter-attacking style of Alavés could easily catch them out here. Gaizka Garitano’s team like to play an attacking game, especially at home, and while this has served them well at times, it certainly leaves them open at the back. The fact that they’ve kept just one clean sheet at home this season is far from surprising.

Considering that this is their first season back in La Liga, it’s hard not to be impressed with Alavés. They’ve quietly gone about their business, defending well, scoring goals and, most important of all, they’ve picked up crucial points along the way. In a season where this small basque club has already toppled the mighty Barcelona at Camp Nou, it’s certainly not hard to envisage them giving Depor a hard time in this match.

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