Spanish Football Ushers in a Fantastic Football Weekend on Friday
Published July 3, 2020 by Florin P
The top flight and second division Spanish teams open an eventful weekend, with Atletico Madrid playing hosts to Mallorca.
This weekend is rich in exciting football games, but it starts rather slowly, with only two meaningful matches scheduled for Friday evening. In the first division, Atletico Madrid hosts Mallorca in a match that the home side is expected to win rather easily. An enthralling game is scheduled in the second league where Girona and Zaragoza lock horns in a match that can determine the team to promote to La Liga.
Mallorca Braces for Atletico Madrid Test
Mallorca travel to the nation’s capital knowing that they are hard-pressed to defend for 90 minutes against an in-form team. Atletico Madrid are firing on all cylinders and continue to display the same dominant defensive that brought them to the top of La Liga. In the most recent match, they allowed the first goal since the competition resumed nearly a month ago against Alaves. That happened in the final minute of overtime, when they were already two goals ahead and nothing could happen.
The hosts are highly motivated to win to make sure they finish on the podium and secure a Champions League berth in a convincing fashion. They only get odds of 1/4 at bet365 Sports, which makes perfect sense given the difference in form and team quality. Meanwhile, Mallorca know that anything short of victory will result in their inevitable relegation to the second division. Even if they win, they are in danger of playing next season in Liga Adelante and the odds of 12/1 to win on Friday don’t look promising.
Last Ditch Effort for Girona against Zaragoza
Zaragoza is the best traveling team in La Liga 2 and this explains their positioning in the second place of the standings. On Friday at 6:30 PM UK time they will travel to Girona to take on the local team which has the best home record in the division. This makes this game one particularly interesting to watch, especially with the hosts playing for their chance to advance to La Liga. Girona will play in front of an empty stadium, but even so they are credited with the first chance and odds of 13/10 at 888 Sport.
Zaragoza can afford to defend with all lines for as long as it takes, since they have a three-point lead over Huesca. A draw would be regarded as a success by the visiting team, since it hasn’t won a match in Girona since early 2015. If the match goes long enough without any team scoring, the hosts are also likely to shift into a less aggressive gear. A draw would keep them on a playoffs position, whereas a home defeat would largely jeopardize their chances to advance.
Disclaimer:
The odds mentioned here were accurate at the featured bookmakers at the hour the article was written, respectively on Thursday, June 30 at 7 pm UK time.
