Betis vs Granada CF prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-01-12 20:00.
Real Betis might occupy a healthy top-half position in La Liga, but they haven’t won a league game since beating Las Palmas 1-0 in late November (D4, L1) and were dumped out of Copa del Rey by Alavés last Saturday (L 1-0). As they also lost sporting director Ramon Planes just as the January transfer window opened, 2024 has not started well for Los Verdiblancos.
It might come as a relief to Manuel Pellegrini’s men that they restart their league campaign at home then, where they’re unbeaten in La Liga action this season (W5, D4) and haven’t lost at home against Andalusian rivals Granada since November 2012 (W3, D3 since). The last five of those games saw them net twice on each occasion, something goal-starved Betis fans would be more than happy to see again after seeing their side net just 21 times in 19 La Liga outings this term!
Granada began the New Year with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Cádiz, moving themselves a little closer to safety with their first league win since August as a result. Alexander Medina has already brought in Bruno Méndez, Augusto Batalla and Kamil Piątkowski with further activity expected after they failed to score in three of their last five La Liga outings (W1, D1, L3).
More goals are essential for the Nasrids as they are an ominous 12 points worse off at this stage than their previous top-flight campaign in 2021/22, which ended in relegation. As one of four teams pre-round yet to win on the road in La Liga this term (D1, L8), travelling to Betis looks like a stiff challenge for them after only scoring once across their last five league trips (L5).
Players to watch: Aitor Ruibal has scored Betis’ opener in two of their last four league fixtures, while two of his three competitive goals this season came at home. Gonzalo Villar (GRA) has four direct goal contributions in La Liga this term (G1, A3), with two of those assists registered on the road.
Hot streak: Betis have drawn their last five Andalusian top-flight derbies – no team has ever drawn six in a row!