Copa del Rey Betting Preview – Semi-Finals

The second leg of the Spanish Cup semi-finals are due tonight with games that are expected to be exciting.

The race heats up to reach the Spanish Cup final as the second legs of the semi-finals are coming tonight. Barcelona, Villarreal, Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao are in the top 4 and two of the sides will be finalists tonight. The number one team of Catalonia is expected to make it to the final round quite easily after winning the first leg by 3-1.

·Interesting clashes at the semi-final
·Barca are favourite against Villarreal
·Espanyol are ready to host Bilbao

However, Spanish gambling news report that Villarreal is ready to surprise the Spanish giant right after they tied with Real Madrid in the championship even without one of their key players. On the other hand Espanyol will host Athletic Bilbao, after the first leg ended with a 1-1 draw in the Basque Country, the second leg is expected to be very thrilling.

Villarreal fans hope to see great comeback against Barcelona

One Spanish giant experienced just how surprising Villarreal can be. The Yellow Submarine played against Real Madrid, one of the most popular clubs with La Liga betting sites, this weekend without their key player Denis Cheryshev, the Russian winger, who is on loan from the Galacticos and is in superb form. The team of the Spanish capital played with its best squad, yet Villarreal tied them and the Madrid only scored from a penalty.

This was not the only great victory that they have achieved this season, as they also defeated Atletico de Madrid in December, who are the current La Liga defending champions. In addition, Villarreal had a series of 10 games without losing in the domestic competition (7 wins, 3 draws) until they met with Barcelona only to end their on-going form after they managed to score twice but conceded 3 goals.

Supporters of the Catalan club however expect to see their team make it to the final after winning the first leg by 3-1. The goals were scored by Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Trigueros Manuel for the opposing side. Two goals difference is usually enough for teams like FC Barcelona, and in addition they have not lost a single game against Villarreal since March 2008. The two teams have faced each other 13 times since then and the Blaugrana won 10 out of those games.

Online gambling sites in Spain do not expect Villarreal to cause a great comeback due to the fact that they have been unable to defeat Barcelona in almost 7 years. The odds for Villarreal defeating Barcelona tonight are at 5.50 (9/2) by Bet365, while the qualification of the Yellow Submarine is no less than 13.00 (12/1). The odds for the Catalan club to play in the final have been set at 1.04 (0/1) also by Bet365. The league form is decisive when determining the favourite of tonight’s clash. Barca has lost only 1 of their last 5 games in the league and won the remaining 4 while their rival’s result is 2 games won, 2 lost and 1 draw.

Espanyol aims to find its place to the final at home after 1-1 draw in Bilbao

Espanyol will host Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of the semi-finals, hoping to be able to use their slight advantage of scoring one goal in the opposition’s stadium. The first leg ended by 1-1 in San Mames, stadium of Bilbao. Aduriz took the lead for the home team in the 11th minute but V. Sanchez equalized in the 35th minute. No more goals were scored in that game, which means Athletic Bilbao will have to put the ball into the net at least once tonight if they want to reach the last stage.

Obviously Espanyol will also aim to win, especially because they are playing at their home field at Cornellà-El Prat, which is officially called the Super8 Stadium due to sponsorship reasons. The number 2 team of Barcelona are playing completely unpredictably in the league this season. In the past 14 rounds of the Liga BBVA, they won 7, and they lost 7 times. With this performance, the Catalan club is in the 9th position with 32 points in the Spanish championship.

Athletic Bilbao comes right after the Barcelona-based team on the chart, gaining 30 points so far in the championship. They are at least as unpredictable as their rival is. The Basques had a series of 6 games without losing a single match, but then they had another line of 7 games earning only 2 points, which means they lost 5 of those and tied twice.

These two teams have faced each other many times in the past already, but these clashes do not make this game any more predictable. Bilbao won 2, and lost 5 of their last 10 games against the Catalans. Online sportsbooks in Spain believe Espanyol to be the favourites for this duel, setting the odds at 1.53 (6/11) for the team of Barcelona to qualify for the final. The odds for the Basque team to reach the last stage are 2.50 (3/2) by the counts of Bet365.