La Liga Betting
The ease of accessibility to the league has expanded the popularity of La Liga betting, and a lot of credit goes to live-streaming of games on Facebook.
El Classico, mighty Galacticos, the Tiki-Taka, and The Ronaldo Vs. Messi debate—La Liga has sprayed a lot of gold dust in the glorious history of European Club soccer and everything that is involved in the world of soccer betting.
So, before you dive into this fascinating adventure of La Liga betting, let’s prepare you with all the necessary information you need to place your first La Liga wagers and dive into some advanced strategy.
More About Betting On La Liga
Top Online Sportsbooks To Bet On La Liga 2024
How does The La Liga Work?
Every season 20 teams go hammer and tongs with each other by playing 38 games (each team playing the other 19 twice, one at home and the other away), and the team with the highest number of points clinches the league title.
Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and no point for a loss.
In case of multiple teams finishing with an equal number of points, the winner is decided based on one of the following methods in the same order they are listed below:
- head-to-head points
- head-to-head goal difference
- goal difference
- goals scored
- fair-play points
Qualification For UCL And UEL In La Liga
Only five teams at maximum can qualify for the UEFA Champions League from La Liga. The top 4 teams on the league table qualify for the Champions League.
However, winners of the Europa League and Champions League also qualify for the Champions League—if this creates a situation of six teams being eligible for UCL participation, the fourth-placed team plays in UEL instead of UCL.
The team that finishes fifth on the table qualifies for the Europa League’s group stages, along with the winner of the Copa Del Rey (domestic knockout tournament).
However, if the winner of Copa del Ray also finishes in the top 5 places, the team at sixth gets the spot. Otherwise, the sixth-placed team qualifies for the second qualifying round of UEL—or the team at the seventh place if 6th qualifies for the group stage.
Relegation In La Liga
The process of relegation is simple in La Liga. At the end of the season, the teams that finish at the bottom three places of the table are demoted to the second division of La Liga, called La Liga 2. The top three teams from La Liga 2 get promoted to La Liga.
How Do Promotions And Relegations Impact Games?
The impact of these factors doesn’t reflect much at the beginning of the season. But when we move into the deciding stages and when teams are competing for multiple trophies, managers often prioritize one over the other.
So, for example, let’s say Valencia and Mallorca are supposed to play a game on a given weekend. While Mallorca is out of all competitions, Valencia has an important UEL game in midweek and a game against Real Madrid the next weekend.
In a situation like this, the manager of Valencia would be likely to prioritize the upcoming crucial fixtures—which means you could see a depleted starting XI for Valencia in the game. You may be able to take advantage of this in betting markets.
La Liga Betting Tip
In a nutshell, no matter how the teams look on the paper and what odds might suggest, always keep an eye on each side’s circumstances going into the game.
Best Online sportsbooks To Bet On La Liga 2024
Every sportsbook online will offer odds on La Liga. However, it is important not to choose the first online sportsbook you come across, as there are many sites that are much better than others when it comes to soccer betting opportunities.
So, choosing the right sportsbook as crucial as placing a bet on a given soccer event.
To make things simpler for you, here are our suggestions.
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| #1 | 
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Looking For More Top Sportsbooks? Check Out Our List Of The Best Sportsbooks To Bet On Soccer Page
How to place your bets in La Liga?
Placing a bet is almost as simple as it sounds. Let us walk you through all the steps involved one-by-one:
How To Bet Step #1Dig Into Research
Despite all the fun and thrills involved in soccer betting, you’re ultimately wagering your hard-earned money. So, it’s important to be sure that your funds are in the right hands.
Therefore, put security and reliability before anything while placing your bets.
Once the matter of security is done and dusted, you can look at the bonuses and features of different sportsbooks for wagering soccer and La Liga.
How To Bet Step #2Know Football Betting ‘Actually’ Works
It’s a bonus if you have a decent (or brilliant) understanding of the game. But remember, it’s just a bonus. The art of soccer betting is a whole different ball game, and you need to see it from a different perspective.
Our tip would be to read more about the games, follow blogs that post weekly picks, delve deep into stats, and start watching games from a bettor’s perspective.
How To Bet Step #3Make A Budget (And Stick To It) And Add Funds
There will be times your bets will flourish like magic and other times then you can’t seem to win a bet. Regardless of the situation, always ensure you never bet too much and develop a bankroll management plan.
Once your bankroll is good to go, add funds to your account. Sportsbooks offer a lot of wallet options to betters here. We’d recommend you to bet using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
How To Bet Step #4Lock The Bets And Enjoy The Game
Be sure you have chosen the right side and that your amount is correct. Once you’ve double-checked, lock your bet(s) and enjoy the game!
La Liga Betting Odds Explained
You can almost bet on what would happen in every minute in a soccer game. From the next scorer to the next player to be booked, there’s a sea of betting opportunities!
And bets could even go beyond the football pitch as people could also bet on potential transfers, managers to be appointed/sacked, etc.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular bets that placed in the La Liga betting market.
Match outcome (1X2)
In 1×2 bet, you bet on all possible results in a game—win for the home team, draw, and win for the away team.
For example, let’s say Barcelona is hosting Sevilla at Camp Nou. Your moneyline betting options for the game would look like:
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Barcelona | -268 |
| Sevilla | +433 |
| Draw | -138 |
So, in this game, if you bet $268 on a Barcelona win, you’d get a profit of $100, and the stake $268 would be returned to you.
If you’re fancying a Sevilla win and they end up winning the game, your $100 bet would return $433 along with the stake. If you choose to bet on a draw in this game, you will get a payout of $100 on a $138 wager if the game finishes in a draw.
La Liga Proposition Bets
Apart from the match outcome, there’s a ton of other options for wagering on La Liga. Like the next goal-scorer, played to get substituted, player to get a booking, etc.—all of these events could have proposition bets placed on them.
Goals Over/Under
These bets are placed on the overall goal-count of the game. Gamblers can bet on the possibility of game finishing over or under a given goal-mark.
For example, suppose there’s a game between Osasuna and Getafe. And odds for goals over/under bets are as follows:
- Over 2.5: (-110)
- Under 2.5: (-110)
So, if you put your money on over 2.5 goals by betting $260, and the game finishes with 2-1 win for Osasuna or Getafe, you’ll make $100 from the bet, and your stake of $260 would be returned to you.
In the other scenario, if you bet on under 2.5 and the game finishes in a 1-1 draw (or a 1-o win for either side), when betting $180, you would get a return of $100 along with your stake.
Asian Handicap
When a tie isn’t evenly matched, the sportsbooks give the weaker side an advantage in the form of a head-start before the game.
So the odds could look like this:
- Real Madrid -2.5 (+221)
- Espanyol +2.5 (-171)
In this example, Espanyol are given an advantage of 2.5 goals. Therefore, if you bet on a Real Madrid win in this tie, they would need to win the game by more than 2.5 goals for you to win the bet.
For instance, if you bet $100 for a Real Madrid win by 2.5 goals, and the game finishes with a 4-1 win for Real Madrid, your return would be $221 along with the 100$ you staked.
Both Teams to Score (BTTS)
Both teams to score are one of the most popular bets in soccer betting market. It also needs little explanation, if both teams score, you win the bet. If they don’t the wager is graded as a loss.
The catch is to notice the xG and xGA number of the teams involved in the game (we’ll get into details about this later).
Player-Based Bets
These bets are dependent upon the outcomes that are related to players’ actions in the game. It could be players scoring goals, getting injured/substituted, receiving a yellow card, etc.
For example, let’s take the odds for a game between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid:
Here are the odds for a player to get booked (receive a yellow or a red card)
| Payer | Odds |
|---|---|
| Sergio Ramos | -121 |
| Casemiro | +111 |
| Benzema | +341 |
| Saul | -113 |
| Felix | +251 |
| Thomas | -171 |
Double Chance
There are games that look so close that they get you an indecisive. Double chance betting is tailored to those games. So, you get to bet on multiple outcomes instead of just one in a double chance wager.
Let’s take the example of a game between Alvaves and Granada. Below are the options for double chance betting:
- Alvaves win or draw
- Granada win or draw
- Alvaves win or Granada win
La Liga Live Betting
These bets are placed during the entire course of a live game, which means you can place your bets on every event that can happen in the upcoming moments of the game. You can also find endless options for live betting sites and promotions.
Some popular bets could be the next scorer, player to get injured, player to be booked, next team to make a substitution, etc.
Soccer Betting Odds
Odds in La Liga are generally seen in 3 forms: Fractional Odds, Decimal Odds, and American odds (also called Moneyline odds).
You’d find different forms of odds on different sportsbooks based on their location. Therefore, it is important to have an understanding of all of them.
Decimal Odds
The decimal odds are very straightforward to understand. The higher the odds, the higher the potential payout. So, weaker teams in the tie usually have higher odds in the game, to make them lucrative for the punters.
Let’s say there’s a game between Real Sociedad and Eibar. And the odds look like this:
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Real Sociedad | 3.25 |
| Eibar | 7.2 |
If you wager $10 on a Real Sociedad win and the game finishes with a 3-1 win for Real Sociedad, you’d make a profit of $32.20.
Fractional Odds:
You’d find these odds in the form of fractions. They’re more popular in the British soccer betting market. Let’s say the odds for the game between Atletico Madrid and Villareal are:
- Atletico Madrid: 4/1
- Villareal: 9/2
- Draw: 7/2
So if you stake $7 for an Ateltico Madrid win, and the match ends up in a 2-0 for Atletico Madrid, your returns would be (7×4)+7=$35 (including the amount you’ve staked).
American (Moneyline) odds
This system is extremely popular in the US, and it’s almost as straightforward as decimal odds. Odds could be in the form of negative and positive numbers.
If they’re given in the negative, it means the given number is the amount you’d need to wager to make a profit of $100.
While if the odds are positive, the given number would mean the profit you’d make if you bet $100.
Here’s an example:
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Real Betis | -120 |
| Mayorca | +335 |
As the odds suggest, Real Betis are the favorites in the tie. If you bet $120 on a Real Betis win and they end up winning the game by any margin, you’d make a profit of $100.
How Odds Could Change, And Early Bets Could Be Beneficial?
There are a lot of bets involved for the long term events like predicting the winners of the league, highest goal-scorers, managers to be sacked, player of the month award, etc.
But the likelihood of the odds for these events could change. Having an eye to find value in these bets is what separates ordinary people from the experienced betters—and we’re here to help you with that.
Wait Before You Jump In To The Action
A situation like this could attract a lot of people to launch their bets, right at the beginning of the season. Our advice would be to wait for at least eight games before you jump to the gun.
Why? Because generally, when players join a new league, they take time to adapt to the league’s nature of football and their new managers’ tactics.
Some players could flourish in one manager’s system and fail in another manager’s tactical setup. Consider all the factors before placing your bet.
La Liga Betting Stats Analysis
It’s not possible to keep an account of all the minor and major factors involved in the game. That’s where statistical records contribute to your knowledge, although, not all of these factors may be relevant to betting.
For example, if a team has brought a lot of new players, or has tweaked its tactics, it may function differently from the way it did in the seasons before it. Another scenario could be two team’s head-to-head stats against each other from the past seasons.
These stats are relevant in most cases. But it depends on the given circumstances of the teams. Sometimes teams could be underperforming or overperforming in a given season—this could be because of a lot of factors.
Defining Parameters
Let’s first be clear about the metrics that are important to process when you’re analyzing soccer.
It is vital that you focus on statistics that can be valuable for wagering purposes.
Here are some of the important ones:
GF And GA
GF means goals for—the number of goals scored by a team. GA means goals against—the number of goals conceded by a team.
If you analyze these above stats, you will get a basic idea of the kind of football a team plays. For example, if there’s a mid-table club that has a high value of both GA and GF, it reflects its attacking nature of football.
It means that team is likely to play on the front-foot would usually have a high-scoring contest. When sides like these go against big teams, you can find good value in BTTS bets in these contests.
xG And xA
xG stands for expected goals for, and xGA stands for expected goals against. xG gives you a better idea about the chance-creating intent of a team, their ability to finish chances, and if they are overperforming or underperforming.
Higher the value of xG, higher would be the expectation from the team to create chances.
However, if GF’s value is significantly low compared to the xG number, it means the team has a lot of ability to create, but they’re not burying their chances. Such squads struggle to score against strong defensive sides.
xGA tells you about the defensive solidity of the team and how well they’re coping up with the chances opposition is creating to score against them.
If a team has a high value of xGA, but they’ve conceded fewer goals, it could either be because of their overperforming defense or because of the opponents they’ve faced (if it’s early in the season).
Other Factors That Influence Games
It’s not always easy to quantify every factor that comes into a soccer game. Numbers can’t reflect if a team is going through a transition, if the atmosphere of the locker room is positive, etc.
Therefore, always check up on the team’s current atmosphere and for any unique circumstances. For example:
Change In Management
Teams often go through a transition when new managers take the reins. This may come with a turnover in the roster, as well, so results from a new regime may take some time.
In times like these, the focus should be more on the current form of the team, under their new manager, instead of focusing on the past form that relied on the previous manager and their tactics.
Team Form
The form of a team or how they are playing is crucial. Even great teams go through slumps, and small teams hit a purple patch.
So, just seeing a team’s position in the league table would not give you the best reflection of how a team is playing.
Home And Away Factors
There are so many teams that play like two different teams while playing at home and when they’re on the road.
So make sure you check home and away tables of teams and see if there’s a major diversion in performance in the two scenarios.
Availability Of Players
Some players are real game-changers and their side’s performance heavily relies on their individual contribution. But players could miss games due to fitness reasons, suspensions, falling out with the managers, etc.
The important part here is to keep a check on the available players and the predicted lineup for the upcoming games so that if there’s a big name missing, you could at least reconsider your choices.
Where Do We Find These Detailed Stats?
There are plenty of sources where you can get well-organized football data.
If you want to see simple metrics like xG and xGA numbers, you can find them at Understat’s website. One of the best features on their website the option to set a custom date for stats—so you can track a team’s current form by setting dates.
If you like to dig deeper and want to dive into more proposition bets, you should better check the websites like Fbref and Soccerstats.
Soccerstats is brilliant when it comes to comparing two teams. If you want to focus on distinct stats for players and teams, you should head to Fbref.
You can get stats like players who get booked the most, players with the best scoring efficiency in the league or for their teams, teams that score from set plays the most, etc.
