Spanish La Liga Predictions, Picks and Best Bets March 8-11

Predictions and Picks for La Liga Matches March 8-11

WagerTalk La Liga handicapper Kevin Dolan presents his March 8-11 La Liga predictions and betting preview around key La Liga matches including Barcelona vs Mallorca and Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo. Which teams is he looking to pick up points and which will have goal scoring? Read his La Liga betting tips now!

Barcelona vs Mallorca | Friday March 8 | 3:00pm ET

Barcelona -220 | Mallorca +600 | Draw +365

Barcelona failed to capitalize on a Real Madrid draw and Girona loss last week as they finished up 0-0 against Athletic Club Bilbao over in San Mames.

Friday night’s game against Mallorca however presents Barcelona with yet another bite of the cherry in terms of trying to close that eight-point gap between themselves and Real Madrid at the top of the table as they face a Mallorca team that are winless in ten straight league games away from home.

That should suit a Barcelona team here that has been on absolute fire in front of goals this season, scoring in 25 of their 27 league appearances so far this year, as well as being one of only two teams to hold a 100% scoring record at home.

Mallorca meanwhile, while being reasonably strong at home and in cup games this season, just hasn’t been anywhere near that standard on the road, especially defensively, with their clean sheet percentage dropping all the way down from 36% at home to just 15% away from home, one of the lowest marks in the entire league.

Barcelona has netted an incredibly high average of 4.0 GPG across their last five head-to-head matchups when hosting Mallorca, scoring exactly five goals in three of those recent meetings as well.

Given Mallorca’s defensive frailties away from home this season, don’t be surprised to see the Catalans giants get on the scoresheet multiple times once again in this one.

La Liga Prediction: Barcelona Team Total Over 2.5 (+185)

Cadiz vs Atletico Madrid | Saturday March 9 | 10:15am ET

Cadiz +395 | Atletico Madrid -135 | Draw +265

Atletico Madrid will likely have one eye on their pivotal Champions League game against Inter Milan next week as they get ready to take on Cadiz this Saturday.

Atletico have been in some pretty patchy form domestically of late, winning just two of their last five league games overall, and crashing out of the Copa del Rey last week also.

However, they can ill afford to give up too many more points in the league considering Athletic Club Bilbao are just five points off them in the table for that final Champions League spot, so Saturday’s game against relegation-battling Cadiz, even with Inter next on deck for Atletico, should have the men from the capital extremely focused ahead of this one.

They face a Cadiz side this weekend that has struggled immensely to find the back of the net this season, scoring an average of just 0.67 GPG which is by far the lowest offensive tally in the league this year.

On the flip side however, Cadiz has been durable at the back, registering the league’s 4th lowest frequency of Over 1.5 goals in games this season, as they likely look to play out another defensive battle against Atletico this weekend also.

Atletico Madrid owns the league’s joint-2nd lowest Both Teams to Score ratio on the road this year themselves, while Cadiz sits joint-6th from the bottom in that same category, combining for a Both Teams to Score percentage of just 38.5%.

Look for that to continue here on Saturday with at least one of these teams failing to find the back of the net.

La Liga Prediction: Both Teams to Score – No (-125)

Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo | Sunday March 10 | 1:30pm ET

Real Madrid -365 | Celta Vigo +935 | Draw +510

Real Madrid will be coming off a short turnaround in this one as they face RB Leipzig in midweek over in the Champions League, but will be buoyed by the fact that both of their title rivals this season, Girona and Barcelona respectively, slipped up last weekend in their domestic league encounters.

Real Madrid will therefore look to extend their current seven-point lead at the top of the table with another victory here on Sunday against struggling Celta Vigo.

Celta Vigo reversed their ailing fortunes with a 1-0 win against bottom-of-the-table Almeria last week, but looked far from impressive in doing so, with Almeria’s second-half red card for Bruno Langa proving the deciding factor in that game as Celta eventually got over the line against 10-man Almeria with a late 73rd minute winner.

However, despite all of their issues this season, Celta Vigo have at least been durable defensively, especially early on in games, shutting out 52% of their opponents inside the first half this year, which rises all the way up to 62% when playing away from home.

Real Madrid has also been hard to break down at the back early on in games this season, boasting a 77% first-half clean sheet percentage at home this year, and have shut out Celta Vigo completely in two of their last three matchups here.

Take the 1H Under 1.25 goals on Sunday.

La Liga Prediction: 1H Under 1.25 (-120)