La Liga Tips: Back Atletico to outscore Celta Vigo at the Metropolitano | OneFootball

Spanish LaLiga

Rodrigo De Paul is enjoying his best period as an Atletico player

Jamie Kemp returns to preview MD24 in La Liga, where he's eyeing Diego Simeone's Atletico to maintain their strong home record against Celta Vigo...

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Osasuna v Real Madrid - Sat, 15:15

Fresh off another signature last minute winner, you could say Jude Bellingham - and Real Madrid, for that matter - are starting to fire up the engines for the business part of the season. Now we're into the Champions League knockout stages and with La Liga's title race hotting up, this is the part where they'll plan to truly come alive.

That's not to say they've been playing in second gear up to now. They've still been plenty competitive across all fronts and their season is in a good place as it stands. But Real Madrid are one of the more NBA-type football clubs around - as in they seem to pace themselves during spells of the regular season, before showing their best version when crunch time arrives.

Indeed, I expect their weekend trip to El Sadar to be plenty challenging too. Vicente Moreno has made Osasuna plenty difficult to beat this season, ensuring a pretty smooth transition from the Jagoba Arrasate era that ended in the summer.

Los Rojillos don't win all that often, but they're very rarely out of games. In fact, across their last 18 matches in La Liga, the only team who've managed to beat them by more than a single goal is Real Madrid, who did so at the Santiago Bernabeu. That was also the only game in this run where Osasuna conceded more than two goals in a single outing.

Real Madrid's attacking firepower needs little explanation, of course. But I don't expect them to be able to tear through the home side on Saturday, especially this time round at El Sadar; a traditionally difficult place for the elite to visit. February 2020 was the last time one of Real Madrid or Barcelona managed to win there in La Liga by more than two goals.

I'll stick with Carlo Ancelotti's side to take a result here, albeit in narrow fashion. And if there is a player to break Osasuna's resolve, stick with the ever-improving Jude Bellingham. He's been directly involved in 18 goals in his last 20 starts for Real Madrid (11 goals and seven assists).

Atletico Madrid v Celta Vigo - Sat, 17:30

Celta Vigo have been a delight for casual La Liga viewers this season. They play attractive football, are more focused on outscoring their opponents than keeping them out, and bank on plenty of young, expressive players to carry that out.

Their results away from home, however, make for difficult reading. They've only won two of their last 15 games on the road in La Liga, and those two victories came against stiflingly bad opposition (at the time). One was in their final away game of last season against already-relegated Granada, and the other was at Las Palmas back in October, who were the first side to change their manager in La Liga this term.

The chances of them getting anything at the Civitas Metropolitano are thus pretty low. Diego Simeone's side have the best home record in the Spanish top-flight this season, taking 30 points from 36 available (W9 D3), as well as being the only side unbeaten on their own turf.

Unsurprisingly, I'll opt for Atletico Madrid to take all three points here. However, I do like Celta Vigo's chances of at least getting themselves on the scoreboard in defeat, despite the home side's strong defensive record at the Metropolitano.

The Galicians have only failed to score in three of their last 26 matches in La Liga, and only two sides have shut them out on the road this season too. With their expansive style of play and willingness to attack games under Claudio Giraldez, Celta do have the quality that can make Atletico sweat for periods in this game. Doing so for long enough and keeping the back door shut is a combination that often escapes them though, especially on the road.

Though they're an impressive attacking side, Celta's deficiencies are highlighted on their travels, losing eight of their 11 away games in La Liga this season. They're a fun team, but just the type of opponent Atletico Madrid are able to bully.

Real Betis v Real Sociedad - Sun, 20:00

Sunday night's showpiece comes at the Benito Villamarin, with two sides with ambitions of finishing in the European positions currently a little behind where they'd ideally like to be.

Between the two, it's Real Betis who have the bigger immediate urgency to get a result though. Despite remaining in touching distance of the top six, Manuel Pellegrini's side are at risk of being caught in no man's land if they can't find some consistent form soon. They've only won two of their last 12 league matches, and the Pellegrini era might be in danger if that doesn't turn around sharpish.

Real Sociedad, meanwhile, have scored just 20 times in 23 games in La Liga this season, with only three sides netting fewer than them. However, they offset that by having one of the strongest defences in the division, conceding exactly as many (20) as they've scored this season. If only they can overcome those scoring struggles, their consistent defensive record promises to help them start creeping up the table.

Are there a few signs that that might be starting to change? Possibly. After a run of just one goal in five La Liga games between MD17 and MD21, La Real have netted in each of their last two outings (three goals). Likewise, their win against Espanyol last time out should go some ways to resetting their confidence and provide a platform for them to start churning out some more victories.

And with that, I'm going to go for a goalscorer recommendation for the visitors here, in the form of Mikel Oyarzabal.

If this game pans out the way I'm expecting - with Real Sociedad's sturdy defending frustrating Real Betis, creating anxiety in the stadium, and allowing chances for them to attack on the counter - Oyarzabal looks a decent option after being left out of the starting XI in their midweek Europa League fixture. He should be well rested and entrusted to start come Sunday night.

The EURO 2024 final hero has netted six goals against Real Betis in his La Liga career, marking them as one his favourite opponents to play against. And although he's not been in stellar form recently, Oyarzabal does have a habit of coming up with big moments when they're most needed. A night game at the Benito Villamarin usually brings that sense of occasion where he can make something happen.

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