La Liga Matchday 10 Odds & Picks: Villarreal vs Real Madrid, Atletico vs Barcelona & More

• La Liga’s Matchday 10 promises two mouth-watering matchups on Saturday, as Real Madrid visits Villarreal (10:15 am ET) and Atletico Madrid hosts Barcelona (3:00 pm)
• Elsewhere, surprise leader Real Sociedad visits plucky Cadiz on Sunday (10:15 am)
• Get all the odds and best bets for Matchday 10 in Spain’s La Liga below

Matchdays in La Liga do not come any more high-profile than this weekend, as four of Spain’s top five teams prepare to do battle on Saturday.

Villarreal is undefeated in nine (7-2-0) entering a star-studded clash with Real Madrid, which has conceded multiple goals in three of its last four contests and looks uncharacteristically vulnerable.

Atletico Madrid is the lone undefeated team remaining in La Liga ahead of Barcelona’s visit; Diego Simeone’s team will like its chances given the Blaugrana‘s mediocre form over the past month.

Current league leader Real Sociedad will need to be sharp to break down defensive Cadiz in Andalucia on Sunday.

La Liga Matchday 10 Odds

All odds taken Nov 18 at DraftKings

Pick 1: Villarreal vs Real Madrid

Make no mistake: Villarreal (5-3-1) is full value for its second-place spot in the league table.

Between Paco Alcacer, Gerard Moreno and veteran Carlos Bacca, Saturday’s hosts boast plenty of offensive firepower and are in excellent form; four straight wins have propelled the Submarino Amarillo to the top of its Europa League group and within touching distance of La Liga’s summit.

Real Madrid (5-1-2) has shown flashes of brilliance in wins over Barcelona (3-1) and Inter Milan (3-2), but also struggled against the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk (2-3) and Monchengladbach (2-2) — and was straight-up played off the pitch by Valencia (1-4) in its last outing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOgpt2OXFVY

This is not the Los Blancos of earlier in the Zidane era; the defense looks incapable of a clean sheet, and the team has dropped points in four of its last seven.

Given the fact the last three meetings between the two at Villarreal have all ended 2-2 — and Unai Emery has his side playing excellent soccer — we like a little underdog pick with draw-no-bet protection.

Pick: Villarreal DNB (+106)

Pick 2: Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona

It’s been polar opposite starts to the campaign for Atletico Madrid (5-2-0) and Barcelona (3-2-2).

Simeone’s rojiblancos are the last undefeated team standing in 2020-21, while Koeman’s Barça has dropped points left, right and center domestically.

Despite dropped points in over half its league games to start the season — and with the Leo Messi era appearing to fade amidst tensions at the club — Barcelona are still sailing along in Europe with a perfect 3-0-0 record. The squad is vastly more talented than its current eighth-place position and should make up some ground with sitters (Osasuna, Levante and to a lesser extent Cadiz) on deck.

With that said, Atleti offer excellent value at home considering the last few scorelines between the two in Madrid: 0-1, 1-1 and 1-1.

The duo of Luis Suarez — with a vendetta after being sold on the cheap by Barça — and Portuguese wonderkid Joao Felix has already generated 10 goals this season; could Saturday be Atleti’s first league win over the Blaugrana in a decade?

Pick: Atletico Madrid DNB (+114)

Pick 3: Cadiz vs Real Sociedad

As surprise leader Real Sociedad (6-2-1) prepares to roll into Cadiz (4-2-3) on Sunday, the path to success is clear for both.

For Sociedad: Continue scoring by committee around talented 23-year-old Mikel Oyarzabal and challenge for Europe.

For Cadiz: Continue being pragmatic under manager Alvaro Cervera, nipping goals where possible and trying to overcome obvious offensive challenges — see being shut out in two of its last three outings — to not only survive but thrive in mid-table.

Sunday’s hosts have had two weeks to reflect on the 4-0 drubbing suffered at the hands of Atleti last time out; expect Cervera’s squad to line up defensively and try to stifle their visitors from the north — though they may sacrifice what little offense they can generate in the process.

Pick: No BTTS (-157)