Betis – Valladolid : Preview & Prediction
Thanks to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over UD Almería at the Power Horse Stadium -the Almeria side equalized twice-, Real Betis remains four points away from the Champions League zone in LaLiga Santander (LL). The green-and-whites are struggling defensively and have not kept a clean sheet in five halves of the championship, a streak that they will try to break at the Benito Villamarín against Real Valladolid, one of the teams with the fewest goals scored after 21 matches.
“They were three very important points to recover those lost at home last week and continue in the fight for the Europa League”, declared Manuel Pellegrini after the victory over Almería. The green-and-white coach is aware of the high stakes in the qualification for European competitions, and with two league defeats at home (BET 1-2 FC Barcelona, BET 3-4 Celta de Vigo), it is logical that he does not want to talk about the possibility of achieving a place in the Champions League. In order to regain the fourth position, it is essential that Betis do not drop any points in their duels against Valladolid and Elche (J23), both located in the bottom half of the table.
Thirteenth at the start of this matchday, Valladolid are fighting to stay away from the red zone in a bottom half marked by great equality: at the end of Matchday 21, the difference between 11th and 19th was only five points. The Puebla side visits the capital of Seville after a 0-0 draw at home with Osasuna, a fair result according to the Blanquivioleta coach, Pacheta. “We have to highlight the three clean sheets,” said Pacheta, whose squad has linked three clean sheets (G2, E1), as many as they recorded in their first 18 LL matches this season.
Pucela have already shown some signs that they can compete against teams in the top half, with a 29% win rate in games in which they have been underdogs (G5, E2, P10), earning enough points to be located in the middle of the table. Betis have experienced firsthand how stout Valladolid’s defense can be, keeping a clean sheet for the second time in LL 2022-23 in a 0-0 draw against Los Verdiblancos in the first round.
Players to watch: Nabil Fekir, one of the three Betis players who are available again after serving suspension, was on target not only in his last start, but also in the last official match of the verdiblanco team in which Borja Iglesias, out due to injury for this match, did not play. For Valladolid, Canadian striker Cyle Larin may be in the starting XI for the first time after scoring in his first two appearances as a Blue and Whites’ player.
Key stat: Six of Valladolid’s last seven LL matches have gone into halftime 0-0.
Betis – Valladolid : Betting Tips
Betis – Win Odds: 2.25
