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Two strong tips for the Spanish Cup
We predict a win for two top teams in the Spanish Cup on Saturday.
Espanyol – Getafe
Espanyol are currently languishing in the second division, but the smaller Barcelona side have a clear goal of promotion. They weren’t doing too badly until December, but a poor spell in the league came and their inability to win for 4 rounds saw them slip to 5th place.
The cup should not be a priority for Espanyol this year, as promotion is the annual goal and with a very serious clash against 2nd placed Ferrol in the next round, a rotation is inevitable in this game. Three core players will definitely be missing (Melamed, Lazo ,Oscar Gil) and the head coach has called up 4 youngsters from the B team for this game.
Getafe are having a great season, with hardly any weaknesses, and the fact that they have lost only one of their last 13 games is telling. Four of Getafe’s squad will also be suspended for their next league game, so they will almost certainly start against Barcelona – Greenwood, Latasa, Damian Suarez and Jaime Mata. They are not just any names, with them Getafe could be absolute favourites, in a very safe position in the league (8th place), so they could even dream big in the cup. The bookies are giving the two teams a draw, but knowing the above, we’re going to try to pick Getafe to win with a no X bet.
✅ Prediction #1: Draw no bet – Getafe@1.89
Alaves – Betis
In this match two top teams will face each other, and accordingly the bookies are also giving the odds of a win for both sides as close to even.
Alaves are fighting to stay in the league, the cup is not really an option for them. They proved this in the previous round, when they progressed with a modest 1-0 win over a fourth division side. Then, most of the squad was made up of reserves and youngsters, and according to Spanish newspapers, it could be the same now. Samu Orodion is injured at Alaves and is probably the most important link in the team’s attack, and the thin squad means that the professional staff cannot really replace him.
On the other side, Betis are a strong team by European standards. The Sevilla side have 17-18 players who could be starting at any time, so rotation is perhaps not as important in their case. There are also some injuries for the visitors, but it is expected that players such as Luis Henrique, Willian Jose or Guardado could be in the starting line-up.
If we look at Betis’ recent games, we can see that the team is not in good form, as they have not won in five games. However, if we look behind the scenes, we can see that in those five games they have played Real Madrid, Sociedad, Girona and had a tough game with Rangers.
For Betis, the cup is much more important than for Alaves, as they can also make it to the international stage from here, and they won the trophy two years ago.
Our tip here is the same as in the other match, we’ll pick Betis to win without a draw.
