La Liga Matchday 8 Odds & Picks: Real Madrid Eye First Place vs Huesca

• Real Madrid could vault over Real Sociedad and into first place this weekend, as Los Blancos host winless Huesca on Saturday morning (9:00 am ET)
• Barcelona visit a plucky Alaves side later on Saturday (4:00 pm ET), looking to build on the momentum of their 2-0 mid-week win in Champions League play over Juventus
• Get all the odds and best bets for Matchday 8 in Spain’s La Liga below

There is a rather stark contrast between Real Madrid and Barcelona’s respective starts to the season in domestic La Liga play versus their Champions League form.

Zidane’s Blancos are rolling in La Liga, with a 1-0 defeat to Cadiz two weeks ago the lone blip in a solid set of results, but struggling in Europe; a loss to Shakhtar Donetsk and draw at Monchengladbach have left Real bottom of their group continentally.

Barça, meanwhile, have dropped points in three of five league matches but sit atop their Champions League group after confident wins against Ferencvaros and Juventus.

The lack of Lionel Messi goals from play — well-documented, at this point — has to be a concern for the Blaugrana, who risk falling out of the title race if they continue to drop points at the rate they have to begin the season.

Elsewhere, Real Betis host Elche in a match with lots of betting intrigue this Sunday (8:00 am ET).

La Liga Matchday 8 Odds

All odds taken Oct 29 at DraftKings

Pick 1: Real Madrid vs Huesca

Real Madrid (4-1-1) are due for a home win.

Sure, their training ground’s mini-stadium is hardly the cathedral of their usual home — the Santiago Bernabeu — but Zidane’s side has lost each of its last two home outings against Shakhtar (2-3) and Cadiz (0-1) in a rare slump.

Huesca (0-5-2) will travel to Madrid on Saturday in search of their first win of the season, though it is highly unlikely to come against Los Blancos; Michel’s side is fresh off a 4-1 battering at the hands of Real Sociedad last weekend and lacks top-division talent in its attack (avg: 0.71 GF/90).

Real won both meetings (3-2 at home, 1-0 away) between the two back in 2018-19 and — with Zidane’s offense buzzing and Huesca fresh off four goals allowed in San Sebastian — we like the ‘Over’.

PICK: Over 3.5 (+180)

Pick 2: Alaves vs Barcelona

In the northern Basque region, Alaves (2-1-4) have restored a glimmer of hope for this season with two wins in three after a dismal start to the La Liga season.

Barcelona (2-1-2), fresh off a statement win over Juventus mid-week and trailing Real Madrid by six points (with one game in-hand), will ride into town on Saturday looking to end their hosts’ brief run of positivity.

Goal-scoring is still an issue for Pablo Machin’s Alaves, and Barça — which typically maintains a clean sheet against bottom-half opponents — will be a tough nut to crack.

The head-to-head meetings paint a clear blueprint for how Saturday’s match will likely go: Barça have won 13 of the last 14 meetings, and seven in a row dating back to 2017. In recent years, the scorelines read as blowouts: the Blaugrana won 5-0 at Alaves last season,  and by scores of 2-0, 2-0 and 6-0 in visits prior that.

Stick with history, because Ronald Koeman’s side is on the come-up and Alaves are likely relegation battle-bound.

PICK: Barcelona -1.5 (+133)

Pick 3: Real Betis vs Elche

Entering their visit to Seville this week, Elche (3-1-1) have been one of the pleasant surprises of the early days of La Liga’s season.

Coached by journeyman Argentine Jorge Almiron, the newly-promoted Franjiverdes have scored efficient wins over Eibar (1-0), Alaves (2-0) and Valencia (2-1) — and been defensively compact with three clean sheets from five matches.

22,7% – Elche have just completed 22 shots in #LaLiga this season, the lowest tally in the Top 5 European Leagues; however, only @LCFC (23,6%) & @FCBayernEN (22,9%) have a better shot conversion rate than them this season (22,7%, only five goals). Punch#elchecf pic.twitter.com/OqVet04bpZ

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 26, 2020

After a red-hot start, Real Betis (3-0-4) have cooled off considerably with multi-goal defeats in three of their last four matches; Mauricio Pellegrini’s group has struggled for goals against top-half sides like Atletico (0-2), Sociedad (0-3) and Getafe (0-3).

While head-to-head numbers aren’t much of an indicator in this case, given the turnover in rosters over the past decade, it’s worth noting that Elche have won their last three visits to Betis in 2010 (3-0), 2011 (4-1) and 2013 (2-1).

In good form, we like Almiron’s workmanlike Elche to earn a result against a sliding Betis and continue its cinderella start to the campaign.

PICK: Elche or Draw (Double Chance +163)