Las Palmas v Espanyol Betting Tips

Other than the usual suspects in La Liga, Las Palmas have been one of the more impressive starters this season. The team from Gran Canaria, having won three, drawn two and lost two, find themselves in a lofty 7th position and will be keen to improve on this when they face Espanyol in front of a home crowd on Friday night.

As for the visitors, Espanyol have made a somewhat stuttering start to the new campaign and, with one win, three draws and three losses, the side from Barcelona are yet to really get going.

Given what we’ve seen from these two so far this season, in front of a home crowd, Las Palmas will certainly be the favoured team and there will be plenty of punters backing them to come out on top in this fixture. However, there are two bets that make plenty of appeal in this match and neither involve backing the hosts to win – even though they have impressed on their own patch.

At odds of 6/5, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ is the first selection worth being on in this match. Neither of these two teams have looked good at the back so far this season, but, at the same time, there’s plenty to like about both going forward – a recipe for goals if ever there was one.

Having shipped 13 goals so far, no team inside the top half has conceded more than Las Palmas, while Espanyol, who’ve let in a total of 14, also find themselves among the cluster of teams boasting poor defensive records. At the other end, between them they’ve scored no fewer than 27 goals. Las Palmas, with 16 to their name, have scored more than anyone except Barcelona and, let’s face it, there’s no shame in that. Espanyol might have only scored nine goals in their seven matches, although the fact that seven of those came on the road certainly bodes well ahead of this one.

Additionally, Las Palmas, due to their attacking style of football, have found themselves in a number of high-scoring matches this season. All but one of their seven matches have seen three or more goals hit the net. Both teams have also scored in six out of the seven matches that Las Palmas have played so far this campaign. Encouraging stats indeed. Espanyol can’t exactly match their opponents in this respect – only three of their seven games have seen more than two goals hit the net, while both teams scored in three of those seven. However, both teams have scored in all three of their away matches, while two of those saw at least three goals go in.

Quite simply, the way Las Palmas play (on the front foot) means that they’re going to be involved in plenty of high-scoring matches, as is already becoming evident – a trend that is likely to continue on Friday night. The hosts are a reasonably creative side – they’ve carved out 57 goal-scoring chances this season – and, against an Espanyol team who don’t seem to posses the sturdiest of back-lines, especially on their travels, Las Palmas are expected to do damage. However, having a team come onto them should suit Espanyol and thus counter-attacking opportunities will certainly arise. What’s more, with the likes of Pablo Piatti, Gerard Moreno and Leo Baptistão in their attacking ranks, the visitors should have enough about them to profit.

Mentioning the Espanyol attack and their chances in this match brings us nicely onto bet number two. At odds of 15/8, ‘Espanyol to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ is well worth a go.

The visitors haven’t exactly started the new campaign in blistering attacking form, but this match, against a side who will surely afford them plenty of space in behind, presents an excellent opportunity for Espanyol to add goals to their game. Playing away, especially against a team who’ll do plenty of their own attacking, suits Quique Sánchez Flores’ men. The fact that they’ve scored in all three of their away games, as well as scoring seven of their nine goals on the road, is evidence of this. On top of this, with players such as Pablo Piatti and Hernán Pérez Espanyol have pace in wide areas, as well as two centre-forwards in Gerard Moreno and Leo Baptistão who can cause defences plenty of trouble.

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