Real Betis take on Villarreal in La Liga soccer action from the Estadio Benito Villamartin on Wednesday afternoon.
Real Betis come into this match in 13th position on 37 points with a record of 9 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses following a 4-2 loss to Levante in their last match. In the defeat against Levante, Betis fell behind in the 21st minute and went down 2-0 in the 35th. The 2-0 lead would hold until the second half when Levante struck twice more before the hour mark to make it 4-0 in the 59th minute. Sergio Canales pulled a goal back in the 70th and Juanmi made it 4-2 in the 87th, but it was too little too late as Levante held on for the win. Loren Moron leads Real Betis in scoring with 9 goals on the year while Joaquin has 8 goals and Nabil Fekir has 7 in the scoring column. Sergio Canales and Emerson each have a team-high 5 assists this season as well for Real Betis. Joel Robles is Betis’ top goalkeeper, conceding 1.4 goals per 90 minutes with 5 clean sheets in 31 league appearances this season.
Villarreal on the other hand, will try to build off of a 2-0 win over Villarreal in their last match to sit in 6th with a record of 15 wins, 6 draws and 11 losses on 51 points. In the win over Valencia, Paco Alcacer gave Villarreal the lead after just 14 minutes of play, and the lead would hold until Gerard Moreno doubled the lead a half an hour later just before halftime. Valencia would try to get on the board in the second half, but Villarreal had 61% possession and forced the issue with 8 shot attempts and 2 shots on goal to Villarreal’s 2 attempts and zero shots on target, leaving Valencia held scoreless at full time. Moreno leads Villarreal in scoring with 13 goals on the year while Santi Cazorla has 8 goals and a team-high 8 assists. Sergio Asenjo Andres is Villarreal’s top goaltender, conceding just 1.03 goals per 90 minutes with 10 clean sheets in 29 league appearances this season.
This line feels a bit strange to me as I think Villarreal should be favored a bit heavier, but who am I to turn away value? Villarreal’s had some of the most success since the restart, picking up 13 of a possible 15 points in five matches since play resumed. Only Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have done as well or better in that timespan. Betis has had success here and there and the home team has won the last five head-to-head matchups with both teams scoring. However, I’m going to side that both of those trends get bucked with no fans in the stands to give Betis that extra push. I’m going to take Villarreal ML as my main bet while braver bettors will want to look at Villarreal to win with both teams to score – no for decent plus money.