La Liga Matchday 13 Odds & Picks: Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid Meet in Madrid Derby

• La Liga’s Matchday 13 gets underway Friday with a lower-half clash between Valladolid and Osasuna (3:00 pm ET)
• The Madrid Derby will carry some extra meaning on Saturday (3:00 pm), as Real Madrid hosts Atletico Madrid with the latter six points above Los Blancos and alone in first place
• Get all the odds and best bets for Matchday 13 in Spain’s La Liga below

It’s difficult to provide context for how excellent Atletico Madrid has been to begin the 2020-21 La Liga campaign, but we can try.

Diego Simeone’s rojiblancos have conceded two goals in 10 matches, essentially averaging a shutout in league play and just once in their last seven matches in all competitions. That goal against came in a 1-1 draw vs Bayern Munich — possibly the best team in the world at the moment.

A visit to Real Madrid this Saturday will be a stiff challenge, no doubt, but one that Simeone’s charges are certainly in great form for.

In other intriguing matches elsewhere, Real Betis hosts Villarreal (Sunday, 10:00 am) in a battle of ambitious squads off to very different starts and winless Huesca hosts mediocre Alaves (Saturday, 12:30 pm).

La Liga Matchday 13 Odds

All odds taken Dec 10 at DraftKings

Pick 1: Huesca vs Alaves

Hapless Huesca (0-8-4) appeared well on their way to a first win of the season last week, leading Granada 3-1 in the 82′ only to concede twice late and slump to a league-high 8th draw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3jiAzpaic

Nobody has drawn or conceded more goals (20) — with the exception of Real Betis (23) — than Michel’s team this season, and while eight ties have kept the Oscenses somewhat alive they will need to start earning wins in order to survive this season.

Alaves (3-5-4) has been equally as draw-happy of late, with ties in four of its last five league games, but is nonetheless undefeated in six (2-4-0) — with a signature win at Real Madrid (2-1) to boot.

Consider the ‘Over’ play in this matchup, as two of Alaves’ last three have hit, while Huesca is La Liga’s leakiest team and the value at +130 is excellent.

Pick: Over 2.5 (+130)

Pick 2: Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

Even in a normal season, matches in La Liga do not come much bigger and bolder than a Madrid Derby.

But this season — with Barcelona in free fall in the league, and Atleti (8-2-0) alone atop the standings — the clash between Real (6-2-3) and its crosstown rival carries some extra weight to it.

2 – @atletienglish have only conceded two goals after their first 10 @LaLigaEN 2020/21 games, the joint-lowest figure at this stage of the season in LaLiga ever (alongside Deportivo de La Coruña in 1993/94). Invulnerable. pic.twitter.com/V3BYGfWDyb

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 5, 2020

Zidane’s Blancos have righted the ship in recent weeks, shoring things up defensively en route to wins over Sevilla (1-0) and Monchengladbach (2-0).

Atleti will stick with what has earned them success against big teams thus far: Expect patient, defensive tactics.

Dating back to 2017, six of the last seven Madrid derbies have hit the ‘Under’ — just as Atleti and Real have done in their last six and three consecutive matches, respectively.

Pick: Under 2.5 (-139)

Pick 3: Real Betis vs Villarreal

In addition to being a very watchable team with plenty of goals both for and against, Real Betis (5-0-7) is also one of the most-bet teams in Spain outside of the big three.

Mauricio Pellegrini’s side earned a solid 2-nil win at Osasuna last week — sinking our Over 2.5 bet in the process — and moved into the top half of the league table for the first time in 2020-21 in the process.

However, with third-place Villarreal (5-6-1) visiting the Benito Villamarin this week we believe the value lies with the visitors.

Unai Emery’s squad has not lost since opening day — a 4-1 defeat at Barcelona back on Sep. 27 — and won three of its last four away matches in all competitions.

Furthermore, Betis is 0-0-3 against top-half opposition this season and been shut out in two of those three matches.

Pick: Villareal +132