La Liga Matchday 7 Odds & Picks: Real Madrid, Barcelona Collide in El Clásico

• All eyes will be squarely on Barcelona come Saturday (10:00 am ET), as the Blaugrana host Real Madrid in El Clasico — the most-viewed and one of the most-bet matches globally in club soccer
• Elsewhere, Cadiz looks to maintain their surprising form at home against Villarreal on Sunday (11:00 am), while co-league leader Real Sociedad hosts draw-happy Huesca later in the day (4:00 pm)
• Get all the odds and best bets for Matchday 7 in Spain’s La Liga below

To call it a wild start to the 2020-21 La Liga season would not do it justice.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have already dropped points in multiple matches; a full 10 teams are within touching distance of first place; six teams have one win or less and the relegation battle could be cluttered this season.

The two largest players in the league collide on Saturday morning, but other key matchups in Andalucia (Cadiz-Villarreal) and San Sebastian (Real Sociedad-Huesca) bear analysis as well.

La Liga Matchday 7 Odds

All odds taken Oct 22 at DraftKings

Pick 1: Barcelona vs Real Madrid

The undeniable match of the round is in Barcelona, where Ronald Koeman’s Barça (2-1-1) host a reeling Real Madrid (3-1-1) fresh off a terrible Champions League blow against Shakhtar Donetsk midweek.

Both sides have shown cracks in their armor early in 2020-21, with the blaugrana dropping points against Getafe (0-1) and Sevilla (1-1) and Real dropping uncharacteristic back-to-back contests against Cadiz (0-1) and Shakhtar (2-3) in the last week.

The matchup has been fairly even in recent years: Barça has won twice and Real once in their last five meetings dating back to 2018; goals have also, surprisingly, been at a premium with the ‘Under’ hitting in the last three.

It remains to be seen whether iconic defender Sergio Ramos (knee) will dress for Los Blancos after training away from Zidane’s main squad during the week; his absence would be felt both in the emotion of the match and by Real’s backline.

All things considered — Madrid’s free-falling form, the fact Real have been shut out in two of three previous meetings, and Barca’s monstrous 5-1 Champions League win mid-week — backing Saturday’s hosts seems to be the smart play.

PICK: Barcelona (+105)

Pick 2: Cadiz vs Villarreal

If you’d told somebody at the outset of the season that Villarreal (3-2-1) would be in the first-place mix after a month, they would likely have believed it.

Newly-promoted Cadiz (3-1-2)? Not so much.

And yet, as the former travels south to face the latter on Matchday 7 that is exactly the case: Alvaro Cervera’s Cadiz has soaked up pressure and been very tight defensively, grinding out results in the process, while Unai Emery’s Villarreal has consistently taken care of business against lesser opponents.

Five of Cadiz’s six matches have featured two goals or less; Villarreal has been held goalless in both away matches this season — albeit against strong opponents in Barça (0-4) and Atletico Madrid (0-0).

PICK: Under 2.5 (-182)

Pick 3: Real Sociedad vs Huesca

Rare is the week we advocate for a draw.

Even rarer is the week we offer a draw when it’s the league’s co-leaders hosting a team in 15th place.

Yet this week, Real Sociedad (3-2-1) are far from a lock at home against Huesca (0-5-1).

Imanol’s side has been shut out in two of its three home matches to start the campaign, and will likely be at least somewhat rotated following a mid-week jaunt to Croatia in Europa League play (1-0 W at Rijeka).

Sunday’s visitors have drawn all three of their away matches to begin the season, with low-scoring affairs at Villarreal (1-1), Valencia (1-1) and Elche (0-0). Manager Michel has found a way to keep his underwhelming squad competitive on a weekly basis, and statistics like shots taken (71, second in La Liga) point to a team that may not be far off from more goals.

For these reasons, consider a draw — the same result (0-0) that Huesca earned on its last trip to San Sebastian in January 2019.

PICK: Draw (+275)