Betis will look to break the home curse against Elche!
Two times green and white is the name of the game between Betis Sevilla and Elche. The home side will be looking to build on last season’s success, which saw them finish in fifth place.
The visitors, on the other hand, have only achieved this placing once in their history in 1964 and it remains their best shot finish in the Spanish top flight to date.
Last season, as in the season before, they instead faced relegation, but once again Elche narrowly managed to stay in the league. For the match at the Estadio Benito Villamarín between Betis Sevilla and Elche, this prediction includes a goal by Juanmi on the side of the hosts.
Betis Sevilla – Statistics & current form
The Andalusians recorded their best record since being promoted again in 2015 with the aforementioned fifth-place finish at the end of the last edition of La Liga, as well as winning the Spanish Cup for the third time in the club’s history.
For the club, the past season was thus very successful. The Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini can now continue to rely on the basic structure of this powerful team – the Spanish champions of 1935 did not have to make any major departures.
Among others, the veteran Borja Iglesias is still on board. The 29-year-old was instrumental in winning the title with his goal in the 1-1 draw in the cup final against Valencia, which later came courtesy of a successful penalty shoot-out.
Top striker Juanmi also remains available
The club’s best passer Nabik Fekir has not left either and especially important was the retention of Junami – fifth highest scorer in La Liga last season!
In view of this, the attack is already well attuned to the start of the season, which is why betting on more than one goal by the hosts in the duel between Betis Sevilla and Elche is also a good idea.
The “Verdiblancos” can also bet on the home bonus: They won ten of their 19 home games last season – only four teams topped that number.
Will Betis once again be on the winning track in the first half?
In this case, the course was usually set for victory in the first period – only one of the victories was not accompanied by an interval lead!
For this reason, the Betis Sevilla vs Elche prediction,at exciting betting odds, on a home win for the three-time Copa del Rey winners, including a lead for the “Béticos” before the half-time whistle, is also interesting.
Predicted line-up of Betis Sevilla:
Bravo – Bartra – Canales – Carvalho – Moreno – Pezzella – Rodriguez – Sabaly – Fekir – Iglesias – Juanmi
Last matches played by Betis Sevilla:
Friendly club matches
07/08/2022 – Real Betis 3 – 1 AC Florence
03/08/2022 – Real Betis 2 – 2 Real Zaragoza
30/07/2022 – Brentford 1 – 0 Real Betis
28/07/2022 – Real Betis 1 – 1 Marseille
23/07/2022 – PSV Eindhoven 2 – 1 Real Betis
Elche – Statistics & current form
Elche finished 13th in the past season and improved by four ranks compared to the previous season, in which the visitors started as promoted teams.
The players from the Vinalopó also had a mixed preparation with three wins and three defeats against teams from La Liga and La Liga 2.
Newcomer Marti is now expected to fix things in attack
In the attack, which was only partially convincing last season, as only six teams scored less, the hopes now lie on newcomer Roger Marti.
The striker previously played for Levante and did so quite successfully: he scored 68 goals in the past six seasons for the club in the country’s top two divisions.
In 2017, he was also runner-up in La Liga 2 and played a key role in the Valencia club’s promotion at the time.
However, he has only played in the final test match for the two-time Segunda Division winners against fourth division side La Nucia, so he will certainly need some time to acclimatise to coach Fran Escriba’s side.
Elche were a welcome guest last season
The Green-Whites from the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero were also not strong away from home last season: the 1969 Cup runners-up only managed to end four of their 19 league matches victoriously (4-3-12).
Predicted line-up of Elche:
Badia – Clerc – Rodriguez – Donald – Gonzales – Mascarell – Mojica – Milla – Palacios – Marti – Ponce
Last matches played by Elche:
Friendly club matches
07/08/2022 – La Nucia 0 – 3 Elche
02/08/2022 – UD Ibiza 1 – 0 Elche
31/07/2022 – Cartagena 2 – 0 Moose
27/07/2022 – Elche 1 – 0 Getafe
23/07/2022 – Elche 2 – 1 Leganes
Betis Sevilla – Elche Direct comparison / H2H record
The “Heliopolitanos” have played Elche at home six times in the last 22 years or so in the first and second Spanish league and the record is disastrous: only one of these games was won and the remaining five were lost against the “Franjiverdes”!
Betis Sevilla – Elche tip
For the clash between Betis Sevilla and Elche, betting on a goal by Juanmi for the home side appears to be profitable, at attractive odds.
The striker scored 16 goals last season, not only the best tally for the home side, but also the fifth most in the entire Spanish top flight. In addition, he is currently scoring goals again.
The 29-year-old has scored in three of the five test matches he has played, including the two final pre-season games against Fiorentina from the Italian Serie A and Zaragoza from the Spanish lower division.
Furthermore, the home side have kept together last year’s successful basic attacking formation, so there should be no shortage of scoring opportunities for the Andalusians.
On top of that, Betis will be particularly focused because, as described, they have lost the majority of their recent home games against Elche and they will be looking to end that curse on home soil.
