LaLiga Betting Tips

Espanyol have played two games in LaLiga so far this season, committing 17 and 19 fouls in these matches.

They were one of the most aggressive sides in LaLiga last season, averaging 13.8 fouls committed per game with only four sides in the division committing more fouls.

Javi Hernandez leads the line for Espanyol as part of a front two and has committed 2+ fouls in both of his matches so far this season, committing 4+ fouls in one of these games.

He played his football in LaLiga2 last season, so it’s not that surprising that he’s a bit raw and overeager with his challenges. He committed 40 fouls across 21 starts in the Spanish second division last season, working out to an average of 1.94 fouls committed per 90.

There’s clear value with this selection when backing with Bet365, the same angle is as short as 1.25 with other leading bookmakers.

Espanyol have been rather aggressive in their La Liga matches so far. They’ve made a huge 36 fouls across their two matches, 19 of which came in their last outing against Real Madrid.

Dolan has committed two fouls in each match so far. He’s aggressive in his press and wants to get stuck in and help out defensively by leading from the front.

He’ll see a bit of Ander Barrenetxea who has been fouled twice in two matches so far and drew an average of 1.53 fouls per 90 minutes last season.

I don’t see any reason why Espanyol wouldn’t continue getting stuck in and Dolan should be at the forefront of that.

Sucic has scored Sociedad’s only goal of the season so far and leads the squad for shots and shots on target too, with four and two, respectively.

He’s had two shots in each match, despite Sociedad’s poor performances and his goal came away at The Bernabeu.

Sucic averaged 2.03 shots per 90 minutes last season in La Liga despite limited minutes. The starting position at number 10 looks to be his for the season if he can maintain the levels he’s shown, so we will likely see that number rise.

Sociedad should have plenty of the ball here and Sucic isn’t afraid to have a pop when he gets an opening.

Staying on the theme of Espanyol fouls, given their heavy-handedness in their league games so far, I’m looking at their striker Javi Hernandez.

The striker has averaged a huge 3.53 fouls per 90 minutes of La Liga action so far.

He committed four against Levante and two against Real Madrid. Centre-halves Aramburu and Martin have drawn a combined 1.23 fouls per 90 minutes so far this season. 

He is really aggressive and loves chucking himself into challenges, both in aerial and ground duels.

Although Sociedad have started poorly, they are the favourites here at 1.90 and should see plenty of the ball and lead to some frustrating periods for Hernandez.

The Espanyol captain has been a solid price throughout the opening games for shots. He’s already had six shots across his first two league matches and it feels like the odds haven’t caught up with that.

With his minutes played, that means he’s averaged 3.14 shots per 90 minutes.

An important part here is that Exposito is a prime candidate for free-kicks. The beauty of shots is, they can go into the wall or over the bar for all we care.

Sociedad have averaged 10 fouls per match, with 12 coming in the defeat to Betis. They were brushed aside against Real Madrid so only managed eight fouls as they struggled to get close enough to Los Blancos.