Spanish La Liga
2012-05-05 - Granada vs Real Madrid
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : Spain : La Liga
Saturday, May 5th, 2012, 8:00PM GMT
PREVIEW
So he's done it. Mourinho has won yet another top flight title in a new country. Adding to the domestic titles he took with Porto, Chelsea and Inter, the Portugese has now achieved his goal of knocking former employers Barcelona off their perch, as Madrid lifted the La Liga for the first time since 2008 when they beat Bilbao 3-0.
Madrid are on the road again, and I see no reason to expect them to take their foot off the gas. Madrid will want to pull right away from Barcelona, so it doesn't look close at the end, and goals will be chased to help Ronaldo win the golden boot.
Granada need a win to guarantee safety, but really they will safe even if they lose (which they will) and other results go their way). Granada have actually won 5 of their last 8 home games, so we are getting a great price on Real Madrid on the AH markets, but be sure the champions will want nothing other than a win.
It's not like Real Madrid have any other big matches coming up that will distract them. Madrid have already crashed out of the Champions League to Bayern Munich, so will want to end their season in dominant fashion.
The mismatch here is clear when looking at the two offences. Granada have scored just 34 goals this season, 3rd lowest in the league. Real Madrid have scored 115! Madrid are averaging 3.20 goals per game now, and they will look for many more here, because Ronaldo is sitting on 44 goals this season, trailing Messi who has 46.
Messi is likely to score a few in Barcelonas game against Espanyol, so it is important they keep feeding their Portugese star to help him out. Ronaldo should be proud anyway though, because he is the first man to score at least 40 goals in consecutive seasons in any of Europe's top 5 leagues.
I don't think we should bother with bets on Ronaldo, as he has let the team down a bit when given penalties. He failed in the last match to open the scoring when given a chance from the spot, and also blew his chance in the shootout with Bayern Munich. His Anytime Scorer prices are way too short to be be worth trying.
BETTING VERDICT
And still, Madrid will continue to try and score, to make the title win more impressive and to feed players like Ronaldo to improve their stats.
Other players will also want to get in on it, but most importantly, with the title sewn up, Madrid will be playing this one totally relaxed and just for fun. This is when they might just prove their most deadly.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Real Madrid
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Real Madrid -1.5AH @ 2.10 (Pinnacle)
