Jornada 14 Liga Preview: A visit to the capital for Barca, Madrid and Valencia

The predictions are in. Real Madrid are going to win by a massive margin, Barcelona are going to win too! Lots of wins this weekend. In order of the most likely to win:

Real Madrid
Levante
Bilbao
Barcelona
Malaga
Espanyol
Betis
Sevilla
Mallorca
Valencia

So you may like to pick players from those top sides! But of course, as its a double week for Barca only, you will be choosing as many Barca players as possible. In squeezing in Villa, Fabregas and Messi I have very little wriggle room for anyone else of note. I'm hanging on to Diego cos I reckon he's going to be a force for the rest of the season and he could sneak a few points as Real seem to go to sleep for at least 10 minutes or so every game.

If it wasn't a double, I'd love to have more Bilbao and Espanyol chaps. Bilbao's success is very enjoyable and I would like some Llorente and Muniain action this weekend.

Malaga would be a good side to go for too with Cazorla and A.N Other; Isco would be a laugh. A Levante fellow such as Aruna Kone would be fun, just for moral support. I like the speedy Ivorian.

So here's my team anyway. A bit dull. All eyes on Rui Forte.

Here's an extended preview if you have the time and inclination:

All the action will be in Madrid this weekend. The top three all come into their respective games on the back of eye-catching displays in the Champions League, with Barca and Real booking their places in the knock-out stages. Leaders Real host neighbours Atletico, while Barca face a visit to the Madrid suburbs to meet struggling Getafe. Valencia have an awkward trip to Rayo Vallecano.

As ever, Real will be overwhelming favourites against Atletico, who have not won this fixture since the last millenium.


The omens do not look promising for Gregorio Manzano’s side: their hosts simply cannot stop scoring while Atletico currently have the worst away record in their league. Their notoriously shaky defence face the almost impossible task of holding back the irresistible attacking forces of Ronaldo et al. The Portuguese forward will be refreshed after sitting out of the demolition of Dinamo Zagreb in midweek and will surely return to the front line. There will be some speculation about who will accompany the top scorer. Mourinho will rotate his side, opting for a more attacking line-up than the one that edged Valencia at the Mestaella last weekend, and Higuain is often preferred to Benzema to spearhead the attack at the Bernabeau. Carvalho is out with a back injury, and Kaka and Arbeloa are struggling with knocks. Marcelo and Di Maria have both recovered from recent injuries.

Atletico have talked about “winning ugly” but hope will lie in the trickery and talent of the diminutive Diego who is at the heart of everything good they do going forward. Falcao is still missing through injury so Atletico’s own Portuguese star, Pizzi could well continue to lead the line after scoring last week.

Barca’s patchy Liga away form is the reason they are 3 points behind Real. With three drawers and two unimpressive 1-0 wins at Granada and Gijon, there is pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side to up their game away from the Nou Camp. Having just edged the fearsome tests of two of La liga’s lowliest sides, they now have another gimme in a matchup with the struggling minnows Getafe. Iniesta and Adriano are doubts but Pedro is ready to return. Whatever the line-up, this will surely be a prime opportunity for Messi and co to fill their boots and keep up the pressure at the top.

While Getafe have a couple of home wins, they have little to no form. Their Venezuelan star Miku carries the main - if not their only - attacking threat. He misses the creativity that Daniel Parejo (now at Valencia) provided from midfield last season, and his new foil, Dani Guiza is still trying to remember how to play in La Liga. On Loan Pedro "the lion" Leon is still missing with injury.



Valencia face an awkward tie with the mysterious Rayo Vallecano. Rayo have enjoyed some excellent wins and some unpleasant beatings but look healthy in 10th place in the standings. Valencia have not been prolific away from home but have been tidy, picking up three wins from five. The 7-0 thrashing over Genk will no doubt have gone some way to helping them recover from the home loss to Real last week. Valencia have no new injury worries and it’s tempting to go for a low scoring win for Unai Emery’s side.

Despite having lost three in a row, Levante are still the envy of most sides in La Liga, sitting just one point behind Valencia in fourth. The Andalucians have the perfect opportunity to get their season back on track with a home tie against Sporting Gijon. This is surely the ideal time to stop the rot and anything other than a win against the rojiblancos would be a bitter pill to swallow for the home fans after their fantastic start to the season. The likes of Aruna Kone and Ruben Suarez have to lead from the front and take their chances.

Fifth placed Malaga can be expected to take all three points against Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine’s troubles have been well documented, while Malaga are hanging in there and making a nuisance of themselves in fifth. This will most likely be one of the most one sided matches of the weekend. Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Rondon are misfiring and Iscoand Seb Fernandez are the form front men for Malaga.

The rest of the match ups should go with the home side this weekend with Betis, Espanyol and especially Atletico Bilbao picking up wins. Sevilla need to win at Zaragoza, while likewise Mallorca severely need the points at home to Racing Santander.

Team of the week: 6

Top players in each position this week were:

Top forwards

Messi, (BAR 5-0 AM) 40
Ronaldo, (RMA 6 -2 RVA) 23.5
Villa, (BAR 5-0 AM) 22.5

The only surprise about this trio appearing as the outstanding strikers of the week is how infrequently the undoubted superstars achieve this in unison. Villa is especially guilty of not achieving his place at the top as often as he should. The Barca strikers feasted on a characteristically poor Atletico Madrid defence plundering 5 for no return, Villa with one and Messi with the hattrick. Ronaldo steered Real to victory over Rayo Vallecano with their second 6-2 home win in 4 games.

Top midfielders:

Michu (rma 6-2 RAYO VALLECANO) 19.5

Midfielder Michu takes the Man of the week award with his 2 goals and 19.5 points at the Bernabau - all from a value of 6.57. Real Madrid has been a happy hunting ground for losing attackers, with Getafe's Miku grabbing a brace even as his side went down 4-2 in the opening week.

Castro (MALLORCA 2-1 real sociedad) 18
Castro gave Michael Laudrup's Mallorca a much needed win, only for the Dane to resign at the start of the week.

Raul Garcia (Granada 1-1 OSASUNA) 17
His first goal since returning to his home town on loan from Atletico Madrid.

Ozil (REAL MADRID 6-2 rayo vallecano) 15.5
2 assists for the German, who predictably filled his boots against promoted Vallecano.

Top defenders

Moreno (levante 3-1 ESPANYOL) 13.5
An all but irrelevant compensation goal as Espanyol went down to highflying Levante.

Francis (sporting gijon 0-0 RACING SANTANDER) 11.5
An intriguing 11.5 points which included 10 intercepted passes. Contributed to a rare steely display from the Racing defence at struggling Gijon.

Varane (REAL MADRID 6-2 rayo vallecano) 11
A super goal from the French youth already fulfilling the promise that earnt him his big money move from Lens.

Top GK

Varas (SEV 1-0 val) 22
Javi Varas' 22 points show how close Sevilla's 1-0 victory over Valencia was. Sevilla edging their way into the top 4.

La Liga: The final day - Relegation and Europa Cup battles

The final weekend of La Liga. What is left to play for? Everything has been decided apart from the final relegation place. The top four cannot change position and the Europa Cup competitors are all in place.

In fantasy terms, the best I can hope for is improving on my position of 34th in Fans of Almeria. What I've done today, is use the statistical model to predict the results of the final round of La Liga games, and in turn find out who is going down.

The current La Liga standings:



Key:

• League position cannot change
• Nothing but pride to play for
• Could be relegated
• Europa Cup

So, there are 6 teams battling to avoid that last relegation spot and three teams fighting trying to avoid going through the qualification rounds of the Europa Cup. Exciting stuff!

Here are the final day fixtures with the mathematically predicted scores:

Málaga CF 0 - 2 FC Barcelona
Racing Santander 1 - 1 Athletic Bilbao
Hércules CF 1 - 0 Sporting Gijón
Real Madrid 5 - 0 UD Almería
Osasuna 1 - 0 Villarreal CF
Real Sociedad 1 - 0 Getafe CF
RCD Espanyol 1 - 0 Sevilla FC
Levante UD 1 - 0 Real Zaragoza
RCD Mallorca 1 - 1 Atlético Madrid
Deportivo La Coruña 0 - 1 Valencia CF

Please bare in mind we cannot factor in that extra drop of mayhem that can unbalance normal proceedings on the final day of the season. Working through the list, in order of importance: which of these results feels right?

Levante 1-0 Zaragoza

The most important game of the day. In short, if Zaragoza lose, no other results matter in the relegation fight. A home win feels like a fair prediction. Levante have had an excellent 2nd half of the season, but Zaragoza have defeated Real Madrid and Valencia in recent weeks. I expect more goals from both sides but, with a 49% weighting for the home win, I allow Spiegel to convince me that Levante will prevail but there will surely be more than one goal in the match.

Pick: L - Caicedo, Valdo, RZ - Gabi

Real Sociedad 1-0 Getafe

A real hum-dinger. Both sides can go down if Zaragoza win and Depor get a point. A Sociedad home win is one of the top predictions with 51%. I'm happy with that. Again, I might expect more goals from two sides fighting for their lives. Even if Getafe lose, Parejo and Rios should both do well.

Pick: RS - Xabi Prieto, Griezmann; G - Parejo, Rios.

Osasuna 1-0 Villarreal

This feels right. If anything, Osasuna will score more. The Yellow Submarines have nothing to play for and seem to have left for their holidays weeks ago while Osasuna have been in top form, especially at home. Osasuna are pretty much guaranteed safety and can only go down if they concede about 10 goals and Zaragoza, Deportivo and Getafe win.

Pick: O - Ricardo, Camunas, Cejudo, Sola, any defenders

Deportivo 0-1 Valencia

This is one I feel less convinced about. Spiegel makes Los Che heavy favourites but they, like Villarreal, have nothing to play for. Deportivo have found it hard to get excited this season, but they may just get up for this one and upset the prediction. Anything other than a win leaves them vulnerable to the drop.

Pick: D - Adrian; V - Soldado

RCD Mallorca 1 - 1 Atlético Madrid

Both sides are stumbling towards the finish line. Atletico are playing Europa Cup football again. The only issue they have to worry about is avoiding the ignominy of having to go through the qualifying rounds if they come 7th. That tedium will certainly be on players' minds. Both sides don't really need to do a lot to be ok so a point each seems highly likely.

Pick: M - Webo, Nuse, De Guzman; AM - Reyes, Aguero

RCD Espanyol 1 - 0 Sevilla FC

Espanyol have done their best to remove themselves from contention for Europa Cup qualification. Sevilla need a win to avoid having to qualify for the tournament. Kanoute may be a up for a flourish of a sign off. A home win or draw feels fair. Not a tempting game to punt on. Spiegel says 1-0 but I'd expect a few more goals for both sides.

Pick: E - Callejon; S - Negredo, Kanoute

Racing Santander 1 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

Both sides are in a bit of form. Racing have secured mid-table mediocrity but Bilbao need to win to guarantee a straight forward passage into Europa Cup football and may fancy it after a few years out of European competition.

Pick: AB - Muniain

Outside of these games, the sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed the massive weighting the model gives to a Real Madrid victory with 5-0 being the most likely result. Therefore, for your fantasy sides, if you are like me, you will probably be sticking in 49m Ronaldo in and then scratching around to fit in scraps around him.

Here is the final table standings as the maths would have it:



My current lineup for this weekend:

GK

Aoute, Mallorca, 4

Galan, Espanyol, 1
Castillo, A.Bil, 1
Amorebieta, A.Bil, 1

Ozil, R.Mad, 5
Di Maria, R.Mad, 5
Granero, R.Mad, 2
Affellay, Barca, .7
Xabi Prieto, RSO, 14.5

Ronaldo, RMAD, 49
Caicedo, Lev, 12.5

Spain's Squad to face the Czech Republic and Lithuania

Week 27: Easy Games

Early thoughts on Player Picks this weekend.

Barcelona v Zaragoza

Could see Barca doing a number on Zaragoza in the style of Real Madrid against Malaga. All their attacking players are worth a pick. Xavi is back to fitness. Pedro's value has dropped nicely to 17. Although, Adriano had a great game in his place at Valencia. (2nd top scorer for Barca behind Messi with 15 pts). Pinto has to stay in goal.


Racing Santander v Real Madrid

Real have been making a meal of it, especially away from home, until last night. The 7-0 mauling of Malaga should get them flowing freely again. But Racing are a stubborn side. Raul Albiol is the stand out bargain. Valued at just 4, he has started to pick up consistently good points in recent weeks. Naturally there's few other bargains to be had. It's a question of whether to hold on to the increasingly unreliable Adebayor.

All the othe fixtures seem painfully close once again. Several of the top 10 are facing each other and everyone immediately below Real Madrid are all in patchy form. Only Sevilla seem to be on the rise. Hercules v Almeria should be a safe bet for Trezeguet goals. Sporting Gijon should do well against ropey Getafe. David Barral has to be worth a go at 7.

Sat, Mar 5	Mallorca v Valencia
Sat, Mar 5	Barcelona v Zaragoza
Sat, Mar 5	Athl Madrid v Villarreal
Sun, Mar 6	Athl Bilbao v Sevilla
Sun, Mar 6	Sporting v Getafe
Sun, Mar 6	HER v Almería
Sun, Mar 6	LEV v Espanyol
Sun, Mar 6	Malaga v Osasuna
Sun, Mar 6	Racing v Real Mad
Mon, Mar 7	Deportivo v RSO

Week23: Gijon break Barca's record

Sporting Gijon 1-1 Barcelona
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Sporting Gijon 1 - 1 Barcelona

Last night, Gijon did the unthinkable and had the audacity to not lose to Barcelona. The game, which included two exquisite goals, ended Barca's 16 game winning streak. Forzafutbal have a great follow up piece telling us that we should not be all that surprised as Gijon have a wonderful ability to stick such spanners in the works. Of course, before their 3-0 defeat at Bilbao last week, they had previously thrashed Mallorca 4-0 in their own back yard and gave Atletico a surprise defeat courtesy of David Barral (see week 20). It was Barral again who gave Gijon the lead in this game, only for Villa to restore parity 10 minutes before time.

The fantasy stats from the game suggest Gijon truly snuffed out the Barca threat with the champions barely mustering a shot on target. It is a rare occasion where no Barcelona player scores more than 15 pts and a  few negative Fantasy Points records were broken for Barca:

Dropping Pedro a big mistake

• Victor Valdes (-5.5) and Pedro (eulogised by Sid Lowe this weekend) (-1.5) scored negative points for the first time of the season. 

It was the first time since week 15 that Pedro didn't manage a shot on target. Pedro started the game on the bench in the place of new signing Ibrahim Affellay. The dutch winger posted a negative return of -3. Pedro replaced Affellay at half time, but didn't manage any better. Dani Alves also scored a dismal 2.5, his worst score of the season.

All in all, the stats suggest Gijon did something tactically excellent in nullifying Barca's wing attack: something Arsenal will need to look at if they have any hope of overcoming Barca in their upcoming Champions League meetings.

• Messi scored 13 points. His lowest total in a game he's started since week 13.

• Also, despite scoring a goal, David Villa only got 10.5 points, on a return for a player worth 25. He's only scored more than 15 pts once since week 16.

Week 20: Caicedo? Piatti? Adriano?

Barcelona (1st) v Racing Santander (14th)

Adriano, should start for Barca

Of course a home win for Barca over Kennedy Bakircioglu's Racing, who are now under new ownership. The question of course is how many and who will score. They have a full strength side apart from at right back where Dani Alves is out meaning Adriano fills in. The Brazilian has a relatively unremarkable record of 16.5 points in 7 appearances but has appeared in the last two weeks and did score 9.5 in week 18 during the 4-0 win at Depor. Could be worth a punt at 7.25.

Messi is 43.48, Villa 30.88: Pedro still feels like a bargain at 21.16. Xavi is 13.99 but only has scored +10 3 times this year, Iniesta is 15.67 and has scored in 3 of the past 5 weeks.

Real Mad (2nd) v Mallorca (9th)

So Real will look to get back to winning ways against Mallorca who were pumped 3-0 by "the other" Madrid last weekend. Mourinho will have the same selection issues up front with Benzema (11.69) and Kaka (10.21) vying for a starting spot. Strangely, Ronaldo not included, Real still have some of the best bargains around and it seems at once naive and prudent to persevere with having 4 of Real's possible starting 5 forwards in keeping hold of the above along with Ozil (5.45) (6.11) and Di Maria. It's in defence where changes need to be made where card prone Carvalho and Albiol need to be given a rest.

Villarreal (3rd) v Real Sociedad (11th)

Cazorla returns

Should be a straight forward win for Villarreal with no new injury worries. Lovely Ruben has to be kept, his value soaring to 9.56 from 6.55 (1 goal, 1 assist and 3 SOTs last week). It's a case of how many spots are left over from the Real bargains to squeeze in some Yellows. It's tempting to get in Cani and Cazorla and some defenders. Spanish international Cazorla returns and is Villarreal's 3rd highest scorer with 144.5 this season, but pricey at 15.59.

Valencia (4th) v Malaga (16th)

Valencia need to keep winning to keep Espanyol at bay and keep up the heat on 3rd placed Villarreal. Problem is, they're a tough squad to pick from, seeing as it seems to comprise entirely of midfielders. Vicente looks a bargain at 6.67 but the winger scored -1 last week. Rumour has it that top scorer Adruiz will return this week too and that could see Vicente bumped.

Getafe (8th) v Espanyol (5th)

Espanyol need to win over unpredictable Getafe. Espanyol players don't get a lot of points and their best players are pricey - Callejon (16.22) and Kameni (15.88). Could be as well to leave this fixture alone.

Sevilla (10th) v LEV (19th)

This looks like a good fixture to pick up some points. Seville are scoring in the league and the cup. Romaric (only 5.75) is tipped by Goal.com to be the key man for Seville but there's a host of tempting attacking and defensive picks - Kanoute (15.91), Fabiano (18.21), Navas (15.03). Think I'll draft in Martin Caceres in defence. This Uruguayan chap is on loan from Barca having cost the champions 16.5million euros a couple of seasons back but has failed to establish himself at Barca, or at Juve (loan last year). He's only 5.75 and should get a clean sheet.

However, he will need to be sharp to marshal Levante's in form striker Felipe Caicedo (on loan from Man City).  The Ecuadorian, who cost City $7million from Basel and scored 8 goals under Mark Hughes in his first full season, has 7 goals in 13 appearances at Levante this term.


And the rest?

Almeria have a mysterious forward called Piatti (15.67) who is the 5th highest scoring player (165.5) who is not from Barca or Real. They're playing home to struggling Osasuna.




Also, lumbering Llorente, 4th top scorer in the league on 11, has a home game for Bilbao against Hercules.

Sun

Sporting Gijon v Athl Madrid
Real Zaragoza v Deportivo
Almería v Osasuna

Mon

Athl Bilbao v HER

My team:

Diego Lopez (Villa)

Gaspar (villa)
Alexis (sev)
Caceres (sev)

Ozil (Real)
Di Maria (Real)
Kaka (Real)
Cani (Villa)

Benzema (Real)
Ruben (Villa)
Pedro (Barca)

Week 19 review: Real disappointment

Ulloa (left) made Real sweat

Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga to 4 points as Real Madrid suffered a shock draw away at bottom of the league Almeria, dropping points for only the fourth time this season. Barca - who had put eight past Almeria in November for no reply - cruised to a 4-1 victory at home to Malaga.

Madrid handed a first start of the season to Kaka, shifting Ronaldo to centre forward at the expense of Karem Benzema but the return of the Brazilian playmaker could not inspire what should have been a walk in the park. The stats suggest a pretty uninspired approach with Ronaldo repeatedly - maybe excessively - kicking the ball at the goalie. The Portuguese managed to hog the points with 18.5 (including 5 SOTs), while Almeria's Valencia bound keeper Alves managed to be the second highest scoring keeper of the week with 16pts.. Of the rest of the front 5 (of which I had all 4), Di Maria managed a respectable 11, Kaka 2, Ozil -0.5, and Benzema replaced Kaka in the second half, to score 5.5, laying on the assist for another substitute, Granero (who totalled 10.)


Raul Albiol continued his dull form in defence with a 0.5 (booked) and was the first of two players to get booked and subbed for the Dos Donuts.

Like Ronaldo, Messi also only managed a modest score with 14.5 in Barca's victory. David Villa got 2 goals and 24 points, Pedro (1, 15 pts) and Iniesta (1, 14.5). Affellay didn't manage to trouble the scorers, appearing as he did for merely 8 minutes at the end. For Malaga, Duda showed what he's all about with a gem of a free kick to score a late consolation.


On to 3rd placed Villarreal, who, as predicted, triumphed over Osasuna. Ruben was on the scoresheet as was Spanish international Capdevilla, Rodriguez and Cani (with his astonishing halfway strike and highest score of all midfielders with 21.5). Ruben scored 18.5, and was only denied more by a booking. Roma loan signing Cicinho, also made his first appearance for the Spaniads as a late substitute. Ex-West Brom midfielder Bojan Valero scored a very tidy 15pts despite not getting on the score sheet. In goal, I took a punt on Diego Lopez who was let down by conceding 2 and only managed 2.5 points.

Jeremy Mathieu's Pro Evo likeness

Valencia, only 2 points behind Villarreal in 4th placed, kept up the pressure with a 2-0 win over Deportivo. French full back Jeremy Matthieu stunned everyone with a winning goal and a whopping 29 pts (his previous high score was 6). Midfielder Pablo got the second. Hedwigs Maduro let me down in defence, where despite a clean sheet, he managed to get himself booked and substitituted (-2). The lad did only cost me 3.09 though. Juan Mata only got 7.5.

Elsewhere, despite my reservations, Atletico Madrid brushed aside the in form Mallorca 3-0 with goals from Forlan, Reyes and defender Valera. I was chuffed to have Reyes who was second highest midfield scorer of the week with 21 points, costing 16.29, but not as chuffed as I would have been to have goalkeeper De Gea as well, who top scored the week with 32 points! In defence I also managed to have Dominguez Soto as an afterthought at 3.29, but the bargain basement defender failed to materialise.




Refreshingly, the top scoring team this week would not include Ronaldo or Messi, and would have looked like this:

De Gea, 32, Atletico v Mallorca

Mathieu, 29 Val v Depor
Valera, 20 Atletico v Mallorca
M. Gonzalez, 16 RSO @ Getafe
Capdevilla, 15.5 Villa v Osasuna

Cani, 21.5 Villa v Osasuna
Reyes, 21 Atletico v Mallorca
Xavi Prieto, 18.5 RSO @ Getafe

Villa, 24 Barca v Malaga
Callejon, 22 Espan @ Seville
Ruben, 18.5 Villa v Osasuna

Total: 238

11th placed Real Sociedad's 4-0 win at 8th placed Getafe has to be one of the shock results of the week. The Basque playmaker Xabi Prieto looks a bit special: he's got 9+ in the last four weeks and averages 8.76. Maybe a little pricey, now at 15.5 though. Sociedad's M. Gonzalez is not the same Chilean/ South African who once played for Liverpool but a young Real local.

Juanmi Callejon got both the goals as Espanyol punished Sevilla's wastefulness. The Southerner's dominated possession but couldn't take their chances and the Catalans took advantage (see Sid Lowe for more) in clinical fashion. Callejon has 4 from 19 games for the season now and is Espanyol's top fit goalscorer with leading marksman Osvaldo now out for two months.

In Kennedy "Mr Kennedy" Bakircioglü news, the Swedish forward managed 12.5 points even as his side Racing Santander lost at Athtletico Bilbao.


Other results:

Athletic Bilbao 2 - 1 Racing Santander
Real Zaragoza 1 - 0 Levante UD
Sporting Gijón 2 - 0 Hércules CF

League Table

Goal.com's team of the week
Week 19's winning team: Betancunia 2011

Team of the Week: Betancunia 2011

My team: Dos Donuts

Week 19: preview

Almería (19th) v Real Mad (2nd) (Sat)

Back in November, Barcelona put 8 past Almeria in a ruthless visit to La Liga' s minnows, and surely it will only be a matter of how many for Real. Mourinho has no new injury worries and it seems he will go with the same front 4 that beat Villarreal with Kaka likely to come off the bench again. It seems worth hanging on to the Brazilian (market 11.78, bought at 10.38) whose value is only going to go up, and the same should apply to Karim Benzema (m 12.81, b 11.69) with Mourinho, sort of backing the Frenchman this week.

Barcelona (1st) v Malaga (16th) (Sun)

And surely another routine win and a record for Barca against the recently moneyed Malaga. The Boquerones have added Julio Baptista, Ignacio Camacho, Sergio Asenjo, Enzo Maresca and Martin Demichelis, but this surely will not be enough to resist Messi et al. Unsurprisingly, in fantasy terms there are no great bargains to be had. Of the front three - Messi (45.83), David Villa (28.14), Rodriguez (21.14) - only the latter looks great value. Villa averages 13 but even when he scored last week, he only got 12.5. In midfield, it is tempting to take a punt on new signing Ibrahim Affellay (4.07), who was on the bench for the past two games and is surely due a first team opportunity soon.



Villarreal (3rd) v Osasuna (15th) (sat)

Surely a home win for the Submarine, who by many accounts gave Real a run for their money, despite losing 4-2 last week. With Ruben starting and scoring in that game in the place of the long term injured Nilmar, this unknown quantity looks set to continue up front with Rossi and looks a bargain at 6.55. In midfield, the attacking options of Cani (10.71), Carzola (15.26, averaging 8.03) or Valero (11.77) appeal. Also, Diego Lopez has to come into the fantasy goal, his price having sank to 11.26 thanks to his conceding 4 at Real. But the yellows can take nothing for granted; Osasuna's Ricardo was the top scoring goalkeeper last week at home to Getafe. Although, this may also say a lot about Osasuna's defensive short comings.

Ruben "Warpath" Villarreal, not to be confused with Ruben, Villarreal

Valencia 4th v Deportivo 13th (Sun)

Valencia have to be clear favourites, cruising into the game on a great run of form, while Deportivo will still be recovering from the 4-0 battering at home to Barca last week. Valencia's Juan Mata scored the only goal last week in their one nil win at Levante and, with the striker penning a new deal this week, looks a safe pick. Although, priced at 18.38, there may be some better bargains around (e.g. Ruben).

Sevilla 10th v Espanyol 5th (Sat)

This is the most closely matched tie of the round with both sides in fantastic form heading into this game. Sevilla have won 4 on the trot and in Kanoute and Fabiano have an in form, dangerous strike force. But, Espanyol have one of the best keepers in the league at the moment in Carles Kameni.

Athl Madrid 6th v Mallorca 8th (Mon)

This should be one of the games of the week but both teams are likely to cancel each other out. Forlan is tempting at 17 but the Uruguayan hasn't scored in La Liga for 6 weeks. Likewise, Aguero (20), is unlikey to have a great time against a decent Mallorca defence.

And the rest...

Saturday

Getafe 7th v Real Sociedad 12th 
Zaragoza 20th v LEV 17th 
Sporting 18th v Hercules 11th 
Athl Bilbao 9th v Racing 14th