La Liga Betting: Barcelona should cruise past Huesca on Sunday night

“Barcelona have kept two clean sheets already and while Huesca have scored four, three of those have come from long-range shots and they’re punching quite a way above their xG figure”

Villarreal v Girona
Friday, 21:00
Live on Eleven Sports and Betfair Live Video

They’ve only claimed one point from their first two games, but there’s reason to believe Villarreal will kickstart their season when they host Girona on Friday night.

The Yellow Submarine were stunned by Real Sociedad on opening weekend, but outplayed the Basques for long spells and were only undone by suicidal defending and a spectacular Juanmi finish, as the xG distribution of 1.40-0.41 underlines. They kept things tighter away at Sevilla (0-0) and more of the same should help them claim three points this weekend.

Girona are recalibrating, having lost coach Pablo Machín to Sevilla, and were pummelled by Real Madrid last weekend. More worrying was their failure to beat newly-promoted Real Valladolid at home in jornada 1, and with the bustling Portu on his way to Sevilla, they are going to be short of cutting edge this season.

The Catalans won both meetings between the sides last term, but Javi Calleja’s men have far more quality and can get the job done at the Cerámica.

Real Madrid v Leganés
Saturday, 19:45
Live on Eleven Sports and Betfair Live Video

After a tentative start against Getafe, Real Madrid kick-started their season by putting four past Girona last week. Granted, two of those goals were penalties, but Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale seem to be enjoying their burgeoning partnership, and did enough to suggest that they are ready to shoulder more of the goalscoring burden this season.

That’s a good thing, too, because the decision to bring Mariano Díaz back from Lyon suggests that Madrid won’t be splashing the cash on a big-name striker before the transfer deadline passes. Díaz is likely to be a rotation option in the main, but impressed in Ligue 1 and should be a more convincing back-up than Borja Mayoral this term.

This derby against Leganés shouldn’t hold too much fear. The visitors have looked pretty fragile at the back so far and have lost every one of their four top-flight games against their neighbours. They have, however, scored in three of those, and will be hopeful of doing the same here after a stirring comeback against Real Sociedad last time out.

Barcelona v Huesca
Sunday, 17:30
Live on Eleven Sports and Betfair Live Video

The league table skimps on details, but Barcelona actually beat two opponents last weekend: Real Valladolid and their bad joke of a pitch. If anything, it was the second of those that posed more questions, with chunks of turf lifting up all over the place and disrupting Barça’s passing rhythms. They’ll be delighted to get back to the hallowed carpet of the Camp Nou on Sunday, with Huesca their visitors.

The side from Aragon may be minnows, but they have already shown that they won’t be pushed around. They shocked Eibar – whose example they will be seeking to follow this season – on their primera debut and rescued a point against Athletic Club thanks to Chimy Ávila’s goal-of-the-season contender. There is fight in the side, that much is clear.

Yet this looks like a big ask. Barcelona have a predictably strong home record against newly-promoted sides – 12 wins in 15 over the last five seasons, by an aggregate sore of 51-10 – and are rated as [1.09] favourites to put Leo Franco’s side to the sword here.

Those odds don’t interest us, but there is value in backing the Blaugrana to win to nil. They’ve kept two clean sheets already and while Huesca have scored four, three of those have come from long-range shots and they’re punching quite a way above their xG figure.