Villarreal have enjoyed a fairly comfortable ride so far this season, so it's difficult know what to expect from them when they rock up for Saturday's prime-time clash at the Camp Nou.

Atletico Madrid v Osasuna
Saturday
Osasuna head to the Vicente Calderon with a woeful away record, the latest addition to which was a 4-1 hiding at Racing Santander a fortnight ago, although Atletico Madrid should be aware of the perils of taking games from granted after failing to dispatch Almeria on the same weekend.

All of which means the Pamplona-based outfit have only picked up one point from five road trips, whereas Atletico have still amassed a commendable 10 points from five home matches in spite of that recent hiccup and a predictable defeat against champions Barcelona.

It's very much been a stop-start period for the Colchoneros in recent weeks with routine home games punctuated by tough trips to Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and, most recently, Real Madrid.

However, they now have a run of six matches going into the winter break that could really put them back into the mix and we'll back them to wash away the memory of their customary Bernabeu humbling by making a solid start to that sequence here.

There's worse additions to the long list accumulators than this home win at 1.55 with Bwin but we'll push our luck with the general 2.55 quote on Atletico Madrid to win to nil considering how Osasuna tend to cause so few problems on the road.

Jose Antonio Camacho's men have failed to find the net in nine of their last 13 away matches, so the price has some appeal when you consider how much more disciplined Atletico have become under Quique Sanchez Flores.



Barcelona v Villarreal
Saturday
Villarreal have enjoyed a fairly comfortable ride so far this season, so it's difficult know what to expect from them when they rock up for Saturday's prime-time clash at the Camp Nou.

It's a situation that can be viewed in two ways. Maybe the Yellow Submarine will be ill-prepared for what awaits on the back of a routine opening ten matches, or perhaps their solid start means they can approach the game full of confidence knowing they have virtually nothing to lose.

Last season, they were the only team to escape the with a point from the champions' backyard, although it's fair to say the timing of the fixture played right into their hands on that occasion.

In the first match after the winter break following their triumph at the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, Barca held a pre-match celebration to commemorate lifting an unprecedented six trophies in a single calendar year, which was hardly conducive to retaining focus for the 90 minutes ahead.

Sadly for Juan Carlos Garrido, there will be no such advantage this time around and we're not in the business of dissuading the big hitters from the general 1.22 quotes about the home win, nor the 4/6 on the champions giving up a goal head start, nor the 1.25 about them winning by more than two.

However, one short price that trumps all of those is the 1.50 on Lionel Messi to score anytime and that's where we'll stake our claim in this one.

The mercurial Argentinian has bagged 14 times in his last 13 appearances, finding the net in all but two of his last dozen starts, suggesting some serious value for those of you prefer to pick up little and often.



Sporting Gijon v Real Madrid
Sunday
Given the outright superiority of the big two over the rest of the Primera, it's only natural the layers tend to view everything as a formality. But it's not always about the big two, occasionally unfashionable opponents come along with something to offer.

That's not to say we find anything particularly appealing about the 11.00 on Sporting Gijon to beat Real Madrid this weekend, although you'll find worse teams to opposing the Merengues with at standardprices.

However, we're confident the Asturians will remain true to their principles to provide us with some value on a low-scoring outcome at El Molinón.

Madrid have bagged 21 goals in their last five league outings, plus another five against Murcia in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, but in the midst of that it's easy to forget that exactly half of their six away matches on Spanish soil since the arrival of Jose Mourinho have finished in goalless stalemate.

Clearly, there's a lack of cohesion when things don't go entirely according to plan and the chief culprit for their attacking shortcomings on such occasions tends to be Cristiano Ronaldo with his bewildering need to be the lone hero.

Nonetheless, Mourinho has evidently had some influence on defensive discipline and he will proud of an unbeaten record that stems from the fact Madrid don't concede in these tricky encounters, which ultimately accounts for our decision to swerve the 11.00 about the hosts.

So the case is pretty self-explanatory when you consider that Cornella-El Prat is the only stadium to have witnessed fewer goals since the beginning of last season. Manuel Preciado's men prefer to be responsive rather than proactive and this should be a game to enjoy testing themselves in.

The way to go is under 2.5 goals at 2.50 but it's also worth speculating a small amount on no goalscorer for a jackpot 16.00 (Bwin) payout.



Valencia v Getafe
Sunday
Valencia were quick to try and draw a line under their mini-crisis when beating Rangers in the Champions League the week before last, but defeat at Sevilla last Monday stretched their current winless league sequence to four matches.

Having now dropped six points behind Villarreal, Unai Emery's men suddenly have some catching up to do but of greater concern is the news that Cesar Sanchez will be laid low for a couple of weeks with a leg injury.

For all their outfield strength in depth, variety and equality, Valencia have a match-winning keeper who has fast become irreplaceable and you only have to look at their record when Cesar doesn't play to appreciate the confidence his presence transmits to the rest of the team.

With understudy Miguel Moya between the sticks, Emery's side have won just one of their last 11 domestic matches - and that came deep into injury time against relegated Tenerife on the final day of last season.

Based on that information, some punters might be tempted to back the visitors at 5.50 but we've got too many reservations about Getafe to justify supporting them based on nothing more than a quirky statistic.

It could be a tricky evening for the hosts but the simple objective will be to get back on track with three points, however unconvincingly, and hope they can rush their number one back for the local derby with the Yellow Submarine at El Madrigal next weekend.

Best of the rest:

The gods have been smiling down on Deportivo La Coruña in the past couple of weeks but we don't envisage back-to-back wins materialising into anything more substantial and it's a view we're prepared to back up with a solid bet on Real Mallorca to beat them on Sunday.

The Galicians are looking towards brighter future after beating Espanyol 3-0 at a rain-sodden Riazor a fortnight ago and following up with victory at Levante last weekend but we're inclined to believe it's a false dawn based on what we've seen across the opening ten matches as a whole.

Prior to their success against the Pericos, Miguel Angel Lotina's men had only managed one goal from open play in eight previous matches - and that came late doors in a 6-1 thrashing against Real Madrid.

Mallorca, by contrast, are plodding along nicely under Michael Laudrup but it's their formidable home record that really sets the pulse racing with regards to this bet.

Eliminating games against Barcelona and Real Madrid, for obvious reasons, the islanders have won 18 of their last 21 matches at San Moix and you don't need to be a mathematician to work out that 1.80 is an attractive price in light of that statistic.

PICKS:
Atletico Madrid to beat Osasuna to nil at 2.55 at Bwin..
Lionel Messi to score anytime against Villarreal at 1.50 at Bwin..
Under 2.5 goals Sporting Gijon v Real Madrid at 2.50 at Betsson.
No goalscorer Sporting Gijon v Real Madrid at 16.00 at Bwin..
Real Mallorca to beat Deportivo La Coruña at 1.80 at Betsson.