Will Isco turn Betis around?

An English week in the Spanish LaLiga means that there is hardly a day without live football. Between 22 September and 2 October there is only one day without a LaLiga game, this was last Monday. Spanish football fans will not be bored these days.

On Thursday, the seventh matchday is on the agenda, including the Andalusian derby between Granada and Betis Sevilla. The bet on the home win attracts three times the stake, a forecast in the direction of the guests is slightly favoured by the bookmakers.

The euphoria of Granada’s direct return to LaLiga has already faded somewhat, as their start to the season was anything but satisfactory. With five defeats from six games, the promoted team is in penultimate place in the table. In this respect, a prediction on the home side between Granada and Betis Sevilla seems too risky. The guest from Sevilla is qualitatively stronger, although the results so far have not yet met expectations. With two wins, two draws and two defeats, the Pellegrini team has had a mixed start to the season.

Granada – Statistics & current form

After relegation, Granada under new coach Paco Lopez managed to secure direct promotion as champions. In an extremely balanced league, the Red and Whites showed the greatest consistency. In the end, 75 points were only four points more than the fifth-placed SD Eibar.

The team laid the foundation for their promotion in front of their home crowd. A 17-4-0 record underlines the home strength, with the team conceding just six goals in 21 home games. In general, the defence was the showpiece with only 30 goals conceded, so no outstanding offence (55 goals in 42 games) was needed.

26 goals in six league games

Last year, Granada were a guarantee for bets on the under 2.5, as in no less than 30 league games this was the right decision. In 2023/24, this bet has not been particularly profitable so far, as there have been goals galore in the top division. No fewer than 26 goals have been scored in the first six games involving Lopez’s side. Granada have scored nine times so far, while their defence has conceded a whopping 17 goals. If it continues like this, Granada will exceed last year’s number of goals conceded before the tenth matchday.

Without a doubt, the weak defence is currently the Achilles’ heel in the game of the promoted team. Their only success came against RCD Mallorca, when they won 3-2 in front of their home crowd. In the five remaining games, Granada suffered defeats. The home strength is also no longer relevant, as Rayo Vallecano and FC Girona are by no means among the top teams in LaLiga, but were able to hold their own away from home against Granada. Therefore, the odds for betting on the visitors between Granada and Betis Sevilla seem extremely lucrative. Betis is definitely stronger than the previously mentioned duo.

Predicted line-up of Granada:

Granada (Expected line-up) 4-4-2

Betis Sevilla – Statistics & current form

A last-minute win in the tough opening game against the yellow submarine from Villarreal and a goalless draw against CL participants Atletico Madrid ensured a thoroughly successful start to the season for the team of Chilean head coach Manuel Pellegrini.

A few weeks later, the talk is no longer of a satisfactory start to the season, but rather of a sobering one. Last season’s sixth-placed team suffered bitter defeats, especially against Athletic Bilbao (2:4) and FC Barcelona (0:5). In addition, their Europa League opener went wrong, with a 1-0 defeat away to Glasgow Rangers.

Isco as hopeful

A 2-2-2 record is too little to be able to achieve the goal of qualifying for the Europa League again. The coming weeks will be decisive for Pellegrini’s team, as the Verdiblancos have a number of feasible opponents to face before the big city derby in mid-November (matchday 13). During this time, the aim is to establish themselves in the top third, but this requires success. The great hope for this is the former Spanish international Isco.

After his move to Union Berlin fell through at the last minute, the now 31-year-old was without a club for a while before he joined Betis Sevilla. After only six match days, his signing can already be considered a complete success. In the 1-1 draw against Cadiz last weekend, Isco was voted “Man of the Match” for the fifth time this season. His creative ideas will also be necessary in the derby for Betis to live up to their role as favourites.

With Nabil Fekir, William Carvalho, Rui Silva and Youssouf Sabaly, the Green-Whites are missing a very strong quartet these days. Nevertheless, the guest is to be placed clearly above the host. Even though the current form is not brilliant, we would have expected lower odds when betting on the visitors in Granada vs Betis Sevilla. After all, there is nothing of Granada’s past home strength left to see.

Predicted Betis Sevilla line-up:

Real Betis (Expected line-up) 4-3-3

Granada – Betis Sevilla Direct comparison / H2H balance

After a year’s break, the two Andalusian representatives now face each other again. The direct comparison makes the pendulum swing in the direction of the green-whites from Sevilla, who not only won both season duels in Granada’s relegation year 2021/22, but also won the last game the year before. In the last three encounters between Granada and Betis Sevilla, betting on Betis was always the right decision. In total, Betis have won 23 of their 51 competitive matches (Granada are on 17 wins).

Granada – Betis Sevilla bet

55 points from a possible 63 were collected by Granada in their promotion year and they have earned a reputation as a home power. That reputation still resonates a little with the best bettors, as the betting odds on a home win appear too low. In the season so far, the Granada defence has not been first class and has already conceded 17 goals. With so many goals conceded, betting on a score of over 2.5 between Granada and Betis Sevilla is the obvious bet.

The visitors have only won one of their last five league games, which is certainly one of the reasons why the betting odds on an away win are so high. However, there are enough arguments to make the Verdiblancos the clear favourites. The last three direct duels were won and the quality of the squad is at least one class above that of the home side. Five units are recommended for Granada vs. Betis Sevilla on the away win, so there is definitely value in this bet