Goals for Sevilla, a breeze for Barcelona

Christian Crowther previews the three televised Copa del Rey quarter-finals and picks out some accompanying bets...

 

Real Madrid v Valencia, Tuesday 20:00, Sky Sports 1, Match Odds: Real Madrid 1.36, Valencia 9.4, The Draw 5.9

Real's scant hopes of retaining their La Liga crown all but vanished on Saturday following an acutely damaging 0-0 draw with bottom side Osasuna. Realistically, under  pressure Jose Mourinho must now turn to the cup competitions for solace and, given the unkindness of Real's Champions League draw, the Copa del Rey looks like his best  bet for silverware. However, standing in their way are in-form quarter-final opponents Valencia, chasing their fifth straight win in all competitions. The sides played  out a 1-1 draw in the league season curtain-raiser, though both have been far more prolific lately. Since that low-scoring draw, Real have not failed in registering  two or more goals per game at the Bernabeu, whereas Valencia have bagged at least two in their last four games.

Recommended Bet: Back over 3.5 goals @ 2.14

 

Zaragoza v Sevilla, Wednesday 18:30, Sky Sports 1, Match Odds: Zaragoza 2.8 Sevilla 2.8 The Draw 3.4

This quarter-final pits two similarly capable sides harbouring virtually identical La Liga records. Neither team have been able to introduce consistency into their  campaigns though, reflected in Zaragoza and Sevilla being tied together in the bottom half on 22 points. Unsurprisingly therefore, the league replica of this fixture  produced a tight contest from which Zaragoza emerged narrow 2-1 victors. Since that loss however - in the Copa del Rey at least - Sevilla have come out of their shell.  Los Rojiblancos emphatically accounted for Mallorca and Espanyol over two legs, with both ties settled off the back of thumping away wins, in which they scored a  combined eight goals without reply.

Recommended Bet: Back Sevilla to score two or more goals @ 2.8

 

Barcelona v Malaga, Wednesday 20:30, Sky Sports 1, Match Odds: Barcelona 1.18, Malaga 21.0 The Draw 8.0

The gods have been cruel to Malaga, who must face Barcelona just three days after a La Liga humbling on their own patch, in the first installment of this two-legged  quarter-final. Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi once again proved the Catalans' inspiration as his 27th-minute strike set the visitors on course for a comfortable 3-1  victory. More worrying still is Barcelona's ability to rack up goals faster than Greek debt when entertaining opponents at the Camp Nou. Champions League aside, Tito  Vilanova's runaway league leaders have scored at least three times at home in their last seven matches, with the last four producing a greedy tally of 18. Added to the  general sense of foreboding for Malaga is the fact that the holders have kept clean sheets in five of their last six Copa del Rey matches.

Recommended Bet: Back Barcelona to win 3-0 @ 8.0

 

Bet HERE

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