Monday's La Liga and Serie A predictions and free football tips

Best bets

Rayo Vallecano or draw double chance v Villarreal
Viaplay Sports, 8pm
1pt 5-4 Coral

Udinese to beat Verona
BT Sport 1, 7.45pm
1pt 10-11 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes

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Monday preview

Villarreal have looked in great nick since returning from the World Cup break, losing only one of their last seven matches in all competitions, but punters should be wary of backing them against Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

The Yellow Submarine suffered a confidence knock earlier this month against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey, having lost the last-16 affair 3-2 despite holding a two-goal advantage.

In their only game since, they were lacking against Girona in La Liga, claiming a 1-0 win in the end but only courtesy of a 110th-minute penalty from Dani Parejo.

They go into their next league assignment light on personnel with Giovani Lo Celso, Raul Albiol, Alfonso Pedraza and Francis Coquelin all expected to be unavailable and Rayo Vallecano are no pushovers.

Vallecano are nestled in the mid-table positions but have one eye on the top six and they know how to get a result on the road, avoiding defeat in six of their nine La Liga away games this season.

A bet on Rayo Vallecano or draw in the double chance market is the recommendation at 5-4.

In Italy, meanwhile, Udinese have work to do to break into the top six in Serie A but they can continue their decent campaign with a win at home to Verona.

It is fair to say Udinese need to add more goals to their game - they have been linked with Cincinnati striker Brenner in the last couple of weeks - and they are being held to far too many draws.

But they made a bit of a breakthrough last time out, picking up their first Serie A win since October with a 1-0 triumph away to Sampdoria and they can follow that with victory against Verona.

Verona are in the midst of a relegation battle and their away form has been central to their poor season with three draws and six defeats recorded from their nine Serie A matches on the road this term.

They have added attacking midfielder Ondrej Duda to their ranks on loan from Cologne but he is unlikely to be available in Udine, where Verona are worth opposing.

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