Fansided

5 bold La Liga predictions: Real Betis find scoring touch

By Benjamin Barkworth

GETAFE, SPAIN - OCTOBER 28: Hector Junior of Real Betis Balompie in action during the La Liga match between Getafe CF and Real Betis Balompie at Coliseum Alfonso Perez on October 28, 2018 in Getafe, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
GETAFE, SPAIN - OCTOBER 28: Hector Junior of Real Betis Balompie in action during the La Liga match between Getafe CF and Real Betis Balompie at Coliseum Alfonso Perez on October 28, 2018 in Getafe, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
HUESCA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 21: Players of RCD Espanyol celebrate goal during the La Liga match between SD Huesca and RCD Espanyol at El Alcoraz on October 21, 2018 in Huesca, Spain. (Photo by Alvaro Jesus Calvo Lopez/Getty Images)
HUESCA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 21: Players of RCD Espanyol celebrate goal during the La Liga match between SD Huesca and RCD Espanyol at El Alcoraz on October 21, 2018 in Huesca, Spain. (Photo by Alvaro Jesus Calvo Lopez/Getty Images) /

4. Espanyol maintain perfect home form

Rubi’s tenure has been built on a solid platform of home wins, and Espanyol are yet to drop points at the RCDE stadium this season. The next challengers aiming to end that run are Eduardo Berizzo’s Athletic Bilbao, who are down in 16th place, roughly where most people were expecting Espanyol to be ahead of the season.

Their strong start is a testament to the hard work and tactical knowledge of Rubi, who joined the club in the summer after getting Huesca promoted to the top division for the top time. It certainly wasn’t an easy job to take on based on the mess they were in, but he’s made it look easy so far.

The summer transfer business saw key players Gerard Moreno and Aaron Martin both leave the club, but Didac Vila and new signing Borja Iglesias have stepped up and replaced them effectively. The whole team has stepped up, and they’re now a well-disciplined unit that are hard to break down. Rubi has drilled organization into them through work on the training ground, and they’re especially effective when forcing turnovers through intelligent pressing.

Berizzo’s career has taken a downturn of late. He was unable to find a winning formula at Sevilla and seems unable to replicate his success with Celta Vigo at Athletic Bilbao as well. Athletic are similar to Valencia in that they’ve drawn the majority of their games, but they rely heavily on Iker Muniain and Inaki Williams for creativity. Neither Williams or Aritz Aduriz have been unable to find their goalscoring touch so far, a major worry for Los Leones.

Iglesias has started to hit form with three goals in his last two games, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this continue against Bilbao, and another bad result could easily see Berizzo lose his job.

Home/La Liga