The Spanish top flight returns on Friday night as Espanyol travel to face Real Sociedad at the Anoeta Stadium. These two sides, in terms of points scored, have made similar starts to the campaign, although there is some contrast in the way they’ve gone about things so far.
Having lost 3-0 against Real Madrid on the opening weekend, Sociedad followed up with a 2-0 win over Osasuna last time out and now sit firmly in the middle of the pack on three points. Espanyol, on the other hand, were involved in ten goal thriller first time out, unfortunately for them, though, they found themselves on the wrong side of a 6-4 result against Sevilla. Once again, the goals arrived in no small number in their second game as they drew 2-2 away at Malaga.
There has been no shortage of goals in the opening two matches concerning these two clubs and, from a betting point of view, taking a goal based approach is the way to go here.
Firstly, at odds of 5/2, ‘Espanyol To Score Over 1.5 Goals’ is a worthy bet – one that looks very much over-priced.
They might have failed to register a win as of yet, but, having scored six goals already, the visitors have started the season in excellent scoring form. They hit four on opening day and then scored two against Malaga, a team who’re notorious good at keeping things tight and defending.
In Gerard Moreno, Espanyol have a striker who’s in-form and it would be no surprise if he was to add to his tally of three league goals here. Elsewhere, the likes of Leo Baptistão and Pablo Piatti are quickly looking like they could both be excellent additions to the team. Consider these alongside Hernán Pérez and Espanyol certainly don’t look like they’re going to be short of attacking firepower this season.
As for Sociedad, especially when playing at home, they are a side who will always look to try and dictate play, playing the match on the front foot. While this might serve them well in an attacking sense, from a defensive point of view it could well be their undoing. Espanyol will relish the chance to play on the counter here and, as mentioned above, they certainly have the tools to take advantage of the opportunities that will likely come their way.
Another bet that looks worth being on in this match is ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams To Score’ at 7/5. Both of Espanyol’s matches so far this season have seen both each team score and at least three match goals hit the net. This outcome might not have occurred yet for Sociedad, but, nevertheless, it looks favourable here.
Espanyol have looked strong going forward so far this season, but their defending really has left plenty to be desired. Eight goals conceded in two matches is a fine example of this.
All things considered, goals for both sides are fancied in this match and we could, once again, see an exciting game that features both Espanyol and plenty of goals – a combination that could go together quite often this season.
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