La Liga Matchday 37 Odds & Picks: Will Real Madrid Wrap Up Title?

• Real Madrid can wrap up the La Liga title on Thursday, as Zidane’s squad holds a four-point lead over rival Barcelona with just two matches remaining
• The relegation battle is nearly sorted, with Leganes and Mallorca appearing destined to join Espanyol in the Segunda Division net season; Celta Vigo and Alaves lead them by four points and have nearly clinched safety
• Get all the odds and best matchups for Matchday 37 in Spain below

If these final two matchdays in Spain feel like the end of an era, it’s because they likely are: Aging vets at Real Madrid and Barcelona — especially the latter — could be playing their final matches at their respective clubs, while Diego Simeone’s future at Atletico Madrid appears uncertain.

Results-wise, the league is virtually wrapped up at both ends of the table with Real Madrid set to lift the trophy barring a historic late-season collapse and the aforementioned trio of lovable losers headed to Segunda.

Matchdays 37 and 38 will see all 20 teams in action at the same time; kick-off on the former is set for 3:00 pm on Thursday.

La Liga Matchday 37 Odds

All odds taken July 14

Pick 1: Athletic Bilbao vs. Leganes

It’s all-or-nothing for Leganes (7-11-18) in their visit to Bilbao to face an Athletic (13-12-11) side in the middle of a battle for European qualification.

Despite having no clear strike threat, Lega have claimed seven of nine points over their last three matches and not conceded a goal: Javier Aguirre’s side are playing compact, defensive soccer and grinding out results.

Bilbao, meanwhile, has been a pretty open-and-shut case since the COVID restart: Garitano’s team beats teams below them in the table (2-1 at Levante, 2-0 at Valencia, etc) and loses to teams above them (1-2 vs. Sevilla, 0-1 vs. Real Madrid).

Note: Leganes have also won just twice (2-7-9) away from Butarque this season.

PICK: Ath. Bilbao (-122)

Pick 2: Real Sociedad vs. Sevilla

Both Sociedad (16-6-14) and Sevilla (18-12-16) have plenty to play for with two matchdays remaining; the former has recovered from a stumble out of the post-COVID blocks and sits seventh, while the latter is level on points (66) with Atletico Madrid in the race for third.

Sevilla are one week removed from a strong 2-1 win in Basque Country against Athletic, but Sociedad’s 2-1 road win at Villarreal represents a return to form for Imanol’s team.

13 – Sevilla FC are unbeaten in their last 13 LaLiga games (W7 D6) their longest streak without a defeat in the competition. History. pic.twitter.com/1Yk7bx7ruh

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) July 12, 2020

The number that stands out for us is Sevilla’s away record — second-best in La Liga (9-5-4) — and the fact they get results in 77.7% of their road games. The -129 value is too good to pass up.

PICK: Sevilla pk, +0.5 (-129)

Pick 3: Valencia vs. Espanyol

It’s been an ugly stretch for Valencia (13-11-12) since the return to play in June, with los murcelagos holding an uninspiring 2-2-5 mark post-COVID; they still have an outside shot at Europe, and face a must-win against already-relegated Espanyol (5-9-22) on Thursday.

A 1-0 defeat at Leganes, who spent a good 40 minutes down a man, marked a new low for Valencia on Sunday; if there were ever a team to break out of a slump against, however, it’s Espanyol.

Rufete’s side have not won a game since he was hired on June 27, and are simply playing out the string with their fate already sealed: Seven-straight losses have left them eight points south of anybody else.

Hammer Valencia.

PICK: Valencia -1 (-109)