Expert La Liga predictions by Mark Langdon: Go for goals in Betis battle

Fifteen of the 16 Champions League favourites in midweek won with Sevilla the only market leader across Tuesday and Wednesday failing to justify their status.

There will have been many punters landing juicy accas, particularly as Sevilla were involved in one of the closest betting heats on matchday three anyway on their trip to Lille.

All of the big guns triumphed - some more easily than others - and that will have only increased calls in some quarters for a change to the competition given the growing gulf between the best and the rest.

If Manchester City beating Club Brugge looked obvious, so too did Newcastle's sacking of Steve Bruce on Tuesday.

It was an easy and popular decision for the new owners to make and Bruce can't have too many complaints with the final outcome given the juicy payoff heading his way, even if a more dignified departure would have sat better with neutrals.

Those connected with Newcastle will be hoping the "anyone is better than Bruce" attitude turns out to be true, but one look at those prominent in the betting market suggests the moneybag Magpies are not certain to suddenly turn a corner.

Paulo Fonseca, Frank Lampard, Lucien Favre, Eddie Howe, Roberto Martinez and Steven Gerrard are seen as the six most likely candidates at the time of writing, followed by caretaker Graeme Jones.

It will be interesting to see how former Newcastle coach Jones does after his interim promotion as he is no longer in the cosy position of receiving all the praise when United win and none of the blame when things go wrong.

Newcastle have looked quite lively in attack but are in desperate need of someone to organise a defence with the worst xG-against figure in the whole league.

Anyone who saw Roma defend last term will know Fonseca isn't that guy. The same could also be said for Martinez and Howe, while Lampard was unable to get any kind of balance to Chelsea. Gerrard would be a leap of faith and, of the proposed runners, Favre would be by some distance the safest pick.

Former Borussia Dortmund boss Favre has done a solid job at a number of clubs and also been involved in relegation battles which may be an experience needed on considering Newcastle appear to be in a massive scrap for survival.

Andoni Iraola is not likely to be on the target list, but he is doing some serious work at Rayo Vallecano, possibly learning from Marcelo Bielsa after playing under the inspirational Argentine for Athletic Bilbao.

Rayo, the second highest scorers in La Liga behind Real Madrid and sixth in the table overall, are one of the few teams in Spain happy to play on the front foot.

The same is true of their weekend opponents Betis, who possess the highest xG in Spain's low-scoring league, and Manuel Pellegrini's hosts are likely to play their part in a match where both sides are fancied to score at 4-5.

Best bet

Both teams to score in Betis v Rayo Vallecano 5.30pm Sunday
1pt 4-5 Hills

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