Betting Blog » Espanyol

La Liga: Espanyol vs. Almeria

xtro — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:39:14 +0000

Espanyol’s season ends here against Almeria and it couldn’t come too soon for Ernesto Valverde’s men. They have had a disasterous second half of the season, losing thirteen games, drawing three and winning three since the beginning of the year. Luckily they started the season in style and now don’t have to worry about relegation, but their European dreams died a long time ago. The future of coach Valverde is still very much up in the air, as the club’s directors can’t figured out how he allowed the team to drop from third in the league to eleventh in just a few short months.
Almeria’s first season back in the top flight of Spanish football has been much more positive, though. Back in August they were the bookie’s favorite to go straight back down to the second division, but they have more than held their own and could even finish in eighth position if they can get a win here. The end of the season however has taken its toll on the new boys, and Almeria have won just twice in their last seven matches, including that embarrassing six goal to two thumping at the hands of Atlético Madrid. They are currently on a two game losing streak and, while this game won’t make too much difference to the outcome of the league, they will surely want to finish winning.
Espanyol haven’t won a game since the middle of March and I can’t see that changing here. Why their game has dropped by such a dramatic degree is a mystery, although they have been plagued by injuries to their top players. I’m going for an Almeria win here, while Espanyol at least have the comfort of knowing that they still have a place in next season’s La Liga to get things sorted out.
Prediction: Away win (0-1)

La Liga: Barcelona vs. Espanyol

xtro — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:08:58 +0000

It’s time for the Catalan derby again but neither team is in the mood for letting off fireworks and celebrating. Barcelona are immersed in an internal crisis and this is starting to reflect in their results. Last weekend they were surprisingly held to a two – two draw away to relegation strugglers Recreativo de Huelva, and the Catalan giants have failed to win in the last three matches. After this game Barca must travel to Deportivo de la Coruña, always a difficult encounter to predict, then face Valencia at home and then the big game of the season; Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium. If Barcelona aren’t careful Madrid could be champions of the league even before that game kicks off.
Espanyol are in an even worse position than their city rivals and their season seems to have imploded. They have picked up just nine points from their last fourteen games (three wins and eleven defeats) and are currently on a four match losing streak. Coach Ernesto Valverde could be seeing his job in jeopardy if his side doesn’t perform well here, but it won’t be until the end of the season. He has even been linked to the Barcelona post, as it is quite obvious now that Frank Rijkaard won’t be continuing next season, along with quite a few of the players.
Espanyol’s emblem captain, Raul Tamudo, is fit and should start the game, although he hasn’t scored a goal since the three nil win over Villarreal in January. You may remember he was out with a broken arm for a long time, and he seems to be having problems getting back into his old goal scoring ways. It was Tamudo who practically gave Real Madrid the league title last season when he scored against Barcelona in the last minute to give Espanyol the draw and deny Barcelona the three points.
Espanyol will have to do without ex-Barca midfielder Ivan de la Peña who is still out injured, and Fredson Camara, Jesús Mari Lacruz and Julián López de Lerma will also miss this derby.
As for Barcelona, Ronaldinho won’t be playing and as I have said before, he will never wear the Barca shirt again. Also out are Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta, but Deco has made a miraculous recovery and shows no reason not to make an appearance.
I’m going for a draw here. Espanyol haven’t won at the Nou Camp for god knows how many years, but Barcelona at the moment are not playing any good football and seem to be pinning all their hopes on beating Manchester United and getting to the final of the Champions league.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)

La Liga: Espanyol vs. Racing de Santander

xtro — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:07:32 +0000

This is going to be a very important match to see who eventually qualifies for the UEFA cup next season. Racing de Santander bounced back from their King’s cup semi final exit to Getafe by beating Recreativo de Huelva at the weekend with two late goals. Espanyol however, seem to be in free fall mode as they crashed away from home to second from bottom Murcia on Sunday by four goals to nil. That defeat puts them in seventh position in the league, two points and two places below Racing, who are in fifth spot.
Espanyol are desperate for a win (or even a draw), as in the last eleven games they have only managed three wins and nine points, dropping twenty four points to teams they really should have beaten, and earlier on in the season, did. Coach Ernesto Valverde has blamed his many injury problems for his team’s poor performance, but with most of them now back in training this excuse just won’t wash anymore. His job isn’t in doubt at the moment, but anymore slip ups like Sunday’s four nil drumming and they will be.
Neither side has any injury problems now to speak of, but Espanyol’s Raul Tamudo clearly showed in the Murcia game that he has lost some of his speed and reflexes after being out with a broken arm for so long. He needs time and games to get back to his former best, and if he is lucky he might get that against Racing de Santander. I’m going for a draw here, mainly because Racing de Santander always seems to fail at the final hurdle. The last three matches against these two clubs also ended in draws, and I think both teams will be happy with a point at this stage of the season.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)

La Liga: Real Madrid vs. Espanyol

xtro — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:17:59 +0000

Real Madrid’s season looks to be coming apart at the seams. On Wednesday they were kicked out of the Champions league competition by Roma. Madrid needed to win by one goal to nil to classify, after seventy minutes of stalemate it was Roma who took the lead. Raul got his sixty-first goal a few minutes after, but Real never looked like scoring again. To add insult to injury, Roma grabbed an injury time winner to send Real Madrid out of the maximum European competition. They have now failed to get past the last sixteen in the last four years, which is the worst record for the Spanish giants in over fifty years.
Their poor Champions league form and starting to echo in their domestic league, too. They have lost three of their last five La Liga games and another defeat at the hands of Espanyol could start a crisis at the club. Coach Bernd Schuster has been criticized for not using all the squad at his disposal, (some players like Soldado or Saviola haven’t been given the chance they deserve) instead preferring to use the same old faces. The problem is, those old faces are starting to look very tired of late.
Espanyol aren’t really having much better success at the moment. After their amazing run of seventeen games without losing, they have now lost six league matches from the last eight. That said, they got an important win at the weekend at home to Valencia, and the good news for the Catalan side is the return of top striker Raul Tamudo, who has at last got over his broken forearm. Also back is Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni (who will almost certainly be playing for Tottenham Hotspur next season). Real Madrid won’t be able to count on Van ‘goal’ Nistelrooy for this match, and Sergio Ramos still has to sit out another game of suspension. The good news is that Wesley Sneijder should be back from injury.
If Real Madrid lose this one you can bet that Bernd Schuster’s days will be numbered. There are already rumors of Jose Mourinho being given the job next season and on current form this seems more than possible.
I’m going for an Espanyol win here. The odds are against them winning but in the current climate it will be well worth a bet.
Prediction: Away win (1-2)

La Liga: Espanyol vs. Valencia

xtro — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:57:30 +0000

It would be nice if someone could explain Espanyol’s drop in form, because I am at a loss to understand it. Earlier on in the season they were doing phenomenally well, even to the point of going fourteen league games without a defeat, but since then they have lost six matches from the last seven, dropping eighteen points from the twenty one on offer. Such a change in form can be explain be their injury worries –most notably that of Raul Tamudo who is still out with a broken arm- but not completely. They have allowed some quite clear cut chances slip through their fingers, like the away defeat to Valladolid or the two goals to nil trouncing they received at Deportivo’s Riazor stadium last weekend. If they lose this match to Valencia it will be the fourth home loss on a row, having previously succumbed to Sevilla, Recreativo de Huelva and Betis.
For their part Ronald Koeman’s Valencia finally seems to have turned a corner. On Wednesday night they traveled to Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium to face the Catalan side in the first leg of the King’s cup and did a lot better than anyone expected. David Villa scored in the seventieth minute and only an invalid Barcelona goal which the referee didn’t see in stoppage time denied them victory. They still have the second leg to play at Mestalla though, and with an away goal in their pocket could still see some silverware this season, and even more importantly, a gateway to the UEFA cup.
The Valencia squad left the Nou Camp quite disgruntled, to say the least. They were even more annoyed when their plane to take them home to Valencia couldn’t take off due to the heavy fog that had appeared. At five o clock in the morning, Ronald Koeman decided to keep the team in a hotel until the weekend, as Espanyol are also Barcelona’s second team in the city. How the players felt about this improvised idea is anyone’s guess, but I am pretty sure they would have rather taken the relatively short journey home to Valencia to be with their families rather than stay in a hotel for four days.
All this might well affect the team and I am going for a draw here. Espanyol can’t keep losing forever and Valencia have drawn their last three matches, so it seems more than possible.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)