Last weekend, some of the best European football clubs played on Saturday in a handful of high profile derbies. This time, teams threatened by the specter of relegation are trying to secure invaluable points in their quest to avoid demotion. bet365 Sports and 888 Sport offer ample coverage of these matches, therefore provide punters with great opportunities to bet on hundreds of markets.
A Mere Formality for Chelsea and Manchester City
The Premier League has scheduled the most lopsided matches of the weekend on Sunday and they involve some of the recent champions. Manchester City play at 3 PM UK time against Southampton and bet365 Sports only offers odds of 1/10 on them to pick up all three points. The visitors get odds of 22/1, which looks ridiculously high, but accurately reflects the difference between the two teams. Meanwhile, Chelsea also have home pitch advantage against Crystal Palace, another relegation-threatened team. The visitors will throw everything they’ve got for a chance to salvage a draw, which is priced at 4/1. A much more likely victory for the home side enjoys odds of 3/10, while the visitors are priced at 10/1.
Sevilla and Alaves Fight for the Podium
Sevilla sit in the third place in the Spanish La Liga, which is not exactly a surprise given their performance in recent years. They can consolidate their position by defeating Real Sociedad on the road and Intertops offers identical odds of 13/10 on both teams. Meanwhile, the fact that Alaves is in the second place, trailing Barcelona by a single point is nothing short of amazing. In spite of their stellar recent performance, they only get odds of 3/1 to defeat the otherwise mediocre Eibar on the road. Celta Vigo gets the same odds for a victory in Sevilla against Betis, where the draw is priced at 5/2. Villarreal are under tremendous pressure to return to their winning ways in the afternoon match against Levante.
The Relegation Battle Heats Up in the Serie A
Lazio and AC Milan are the only top Italian teams playing on Sunday and both are expected to win. The Romans get odds of 7/20 to defeat the newly promoted SPAL, while AC Milan receive even odds for a victory on the road against Udinese. The match between Sampdoria in Torino looks like a coin flip with odds of 17/10 at Winner Sports who regard the draw as the most likely result. Chievo and Bologna play at home, but both are narrow underdogs against Sassuolo and Atalanta and neither can settle for one point. Parma are desperate to take advantage of the match against lowly Frosinone and climb three places.
Coin-Flip Matches Rock the French Ligue 1
On Sunday at 2 PM UK time, Nantes will try to extend Guingamp’s misery by defeating them at home. They are given odds of 4/5 to achieve that, while the visitors are priced at 4/1 by 888 Sport. They sit in the last place and are desperate to push for victory because a single point wouldn’t help them. St. Etienne are just as motivated to secure victory, since a triumph over Angers could lift the above Marseille. Punters get even odds if they bet on the hosts to win and tie Lyon for the fourth place on Sunday afternoon. Marseille play against Montpellier in the last match of the day and they are narrow favorites to prevail on the road. Odds of 3/2 can be a bit surprising, since the hosts sit the third place, three points above them.