Betis vs Alaves prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-02-17 20:00.
Real Betis’ fight for Europe has continued on two fronts across the previous week, with their 2-0 La Liga win over Cádiz being followed up with Thursday night action in the Europa Conference League knockout play-off round. The latter of those games, a 1-0 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb, has given Manuel Pellegrini something of a tactical headache as he bids to find the right balance between this crucial La Liga contest and the return leg next week.
The fact Betis have scored in all of their games here since the beginning of December would suggest they’ll produce an instant response, although that doesn’t always guarantee success as they ran out victorious just once in that time (D3, L1). But Pellegrini will be hopeful of improving on that run with a strong touchline record against Alavés (W5, D2, L1), despite that sole defeat coming in this season’s Copa del Rey (1-0).
With no continental commitments, AlavĂ©s have enjoyed a full week to contemplate their creditable 1-1 draw against Villarreal in the previous round. That result means that Luis GarcĂa’s men have lost just one of their last six La Liga matches (W3, D2) and have climbed to a position of relative safety in the mid-table, ten points clear of the drop zone but 11 from opponents Betis.
That’s thanks in no small part to an impressive three-game unbeaten run of away league games (W2, D1), two of which saw them begin as pre-match betting outsiders. Despite the positives around Alavés at the minute, their only two away league wins this season came against clubs placed below them (D3, L2), whilst their record away to sides beginning this round above them makes for a bleak reading (D1, L4).
Players to watch: After hitting first last weekend, Willian JosĂ© has scored the opener in each of his last six La Liga scoring appearances, four of which proved to be decisive. Touted as one of the rising stars of Spanish football, AlavĂ©s’ 19-year-old loan man Samu Omorodion has scored half of his eight La Liga goals across the last three games – only two AlavĂ©s players have ever scored more than him after 22 rounds.
Hot stat: Only Cádiz (seven) have failed to win more league games after scoring first than Betis ahead of the round (W9, D4, L2).