La Liga Matchday 4 Odds & Picks: Barcelona, Plus Two Value Plays

• Barcelona (-213) hosts a Valencia (+560) side in upheaval following the sacking of respected coach Marcelino
• Eibar (-106) slight favorite at home against Espanyol (+275) in battle of the third and second-last teams in La Liga respectively
• Osasuna or draw (-102) offers decent value as the newly-promoted side travels to face middling Valladolid (+128) on Sunday

After a week-long pause for the international break, La Liga returns with Matchday 4 kicking off on Friday.

Barcelona are set to host Valencia at the Camp Nou, with the expectation being a multi-goal win for the Blaugrana and their supporters.

Elsewhere in the north of Spain, Eibar hosts Espanyol in a bottom-half matchup which could offer intriguing value both to moneyline and total goals bettors.

Barcelona vs. Valencia Odds

All odds taken 09/11/10.

It’s fair to say Barcelona has stumbled out of the gate.

A loss at Athletic Bilbao, coupled with a 2-2 draw at yo-yo club Osasuna, have left the Catalan club five points adrift of first-place Atletico. Hardly a position it would have expected to be in after a summer that included additions of Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong.

"Who ever made this decision did NOT just walk over you, they have dragged the whole team and support down with them, something I will say loud and clear: IT'S NOT FAIR."

Ezequiel Garay was not happy with Marcelino's sacking 😤 pic.twitter.com/YqkHeGLFml

— GOAL (@goal) September 12, 2019

Valencia, meanwhile, are off to an identical 1-1-1 start — and drew the ire of its supporters midweek with the firing of coach Marcelino. There were philosophical differences between the manager and club owner Peter Lim, but firing Marcelino — who led the club to a Champions League place after it had nearly been in the drop zone only a few years prior — seems odd (even to players).

Marcelino's record
Villarreal: wins promotion, comes sixth, sixth and fourth in La Liga, semi-finals of Copa del Rey and Europa League — sacked for non-football reasons
Valencia: fourth in La Liga twice, wins Copa del Rey, Europa League semis — sacked for non-football reasons

— Richard Martin (@RichMartinMcr) September 11, 2019

Expect Barça, eager to rip off a convincing victory at home and start their potentially arduous climb back up the table, to dispatch their visitors handily.

Pick: Barcelona -1.5 (-101)

Eibar vs Espanyol Odds

Simply put, this is a toss-up between two teams toward the bottom of the table.

Eibar have created a special atmosphere at their tiny Ipurua Stadium, and were a much better side at home (9-6-4) than away (2-8-9) last season. This is their first home match of the current La Liga campaign, and two points from three away matches has left them in need of points.

Espanyol, on the other hand, were atrocious (3-8-8) away last year and have yet to score a goal this season in three matches.

Pick:  Eibar (-106)

To round out a three-way parlay, consider one of the two following plays:

Osasuna or Draw (at Valladolid) | -102 | Osasuna earned a draw against Barcelona last time out, and have already shown they are capable of earning results away from home this season. Valladolid is very average thus far.

Under 2.5 (Alaves-Sevilla) | -118 | Alaves is once again a difficult team to break down this season, having conceded just once in three games. Away from home, don’t expect Lopetegui’s Sevilla to score loads of goals.