WagerTalk Spanish La Liga Power Rankings Week 30

La Liga Power Rankings Top 5

As we head towards the home stretch of the La Liga regular season, WagerTalk La Liga handicapper Kevin Dolan presents his La Liga Power Rankings for Week 32 of action. Which teams are slotted at the top and which are headed towards relegation? Read his power rankings now!

1. Atletico Madrid

L/5 Form – 1st [3.00 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 1st [13.48 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [11.4], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Controversial pick for top spot but with Barcelona stumbling in the Copa del Rey and league across recent weeks, and Real Madrid dropping two of their last four league games also as they continue to concentrate on Champions League, Atletico have taken charge and are clearly in the best form in the league right now.

Atleti haven’t lost a LaLiga game since January and their data numbers are #1 in the league by a wide margin over recent weeks as well.

2. Barcelona

L/5 Form – 2nd [2.20 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 3rd [9.07 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [10.6], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

The runaway league leaders haven’t been at their best across recent weeks, dropping points against both Girona and Getafe, along with getting dismantled by their rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. However, Barca are still the class of LaLiga this season and fully deserve their spot near the top of the rankings.

3. Real Madrid

L/5 Form – 6th [1.80 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 2nd [8.66 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [11.2], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Two losses to two great teams in Barcelona and Villarreal have dropped Real Madrid down a couple of notches in the rankings, but their numbers continue to be excellent, ranking only behind in Atletico Madrid in terms of expected points gained over their last five starts.

4. Athletic Bilbao

L/5 Form – Joint 3rd [2.00 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 4th [9.14 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [10.6], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Athletic Bilbao continue to make a push into the European spots with a great win against 4th Real Sociedad last time out. The Basque club rank 4th on expected points over their last five starts and have just one loss across their last six league games also, that coming against league leaders Barcelona.

5. Villarreal

L/5 Form – Tied 3rd [2.00 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 9th [7.66 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [7.0], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

A shock loss against Real Valladolid at home last time out would have had Villarreal higher up these rankings, but as it is the Yellow Submarine have still faced the toughest recent schedule out of any of the top five teams in these rankings, and yet have come out of those matchups with an impressive 2.00 PPG.

La Liga Power Rankings Bottom 5

16. Valencia

L/5 Form – Tied 17th [0.80 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 10th [6.99 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [10.2], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Valencia’s data numbers really haven’t been all that bad across recent starts, but a loss against Almeria last week puts them into the bottom five teams overall as they continue to struggle in terms of generating tanglible results in the league.

17. Real Valladolid

L/5 Form – Tied 13th [1.00 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 20th [2.92 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [9.2], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Despite only losing twice across their last six league games and shocking 6th placed Villarreal last time out also, Real Valladolid’s performances have been abysmal of late, losing every one of their xG battles across their last five starts by fairly big margins, even against bottom of the table Elche.

18. Cadiz

L/5 Form – Tied 13th [1.00 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 18th [3.98 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [10.4], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Cadiz secured an excellent win against 5th placed Betis last week, but bar that highlight, the Andalusian club have been quite poor across recent games, sitting with the 3rd lowest xPTS across their last five starts, and arguably should have lost to 17th placed Almeria last month also.

19. Espanyol

L/5 Form – 20th [0.00 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 19th [3.79 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule – Avg. Opponent Position [7.0], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

An argument could be made to place Espanyol at the bottom of these rankings as they’ve now lost six straight games in the league and sit with the worst overall form right now as well.

However, with a 14 point gap above Elche and the fact Espanyol are still scoring in games, we’ll keep them off the bottom spot for this week.

20. Elche

L/5 Form – 19th [0.20 PPG], L/5 xPTS – 16th [4.72 xPTS], L/5 Strength of Schedule -Avg. Opponent Position [7.6], Last Week’s Rank – [N/A]

Sitting 17 points adrift of safety and losing four straight games, it’s fair to say Elche’s race has been run this year as they prepare for life in the Segunda Division for next season.