La Liga Picks - 26 August 2011

As the La Liga season kicks off, Rob Alexander picks out a couple of bets from the opening gameweek

The kick-off of the La Liga season was delayed for one week after a players strike caused disruption to last week's scheduled matches.

Two sides from the north of Spain start the season as Sporting de Gijon take on Real Sociedad on Saturday afternoon.

The big two sides of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona start their seasons in earnest on Sunday and Monday respectively as José Mourinho's side travel to Real Zaragoza and Barcelona play Villarreal in the Camp Nou on Monday night.

Malaga have invested heavily in new players in the close season thanks to the money of Chairman Sheikh Al-Thani. The biggest signings this season include, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Joaquin, Santi Cazorla and Jeremy Toulalan. It will be very interesting to see how such an accomplished group of players gel as a team, they could be a dark horse this season.

Real Betis, Granada and Rayo Vallecano were all promoted from La Segunda last season and will be more than happy to stay up. The Seville derby between Real Betis and Sevilla is one to look forward to.

Saturday Pick

Valencia CF v Racing Santander

Valencia are a side in transition this season after losing Juan Mata, Joaquin and Vicente this summer to decimate their attacking midfield options. Bringing in Sergio Canales on loan from Real Madrid and the talented Daniel Parejo from Getafe should ease that pain.

Canales is a former Racing Santander starlet who made his name partly due to a stunning performance against Valencia where he practically won the match for Racing single handedly. Since joining Real, Canales first team opportunities have been lacking.

Racing Santander have brought in experienced coach Héctor Cúper to help them stave off relegation this season. Cúper enjoyed much success as Valencia coach between 1999 and 2001 as he took Los Che to successive Champions League finals. A solid defence is part of all Cúper's sides and Racing will be no different, but I expect Valencia to still have far too much for them this early on.

Bet 2 points on Valencia -1.75 at 2.67 with bet365.

Sunday Pick

Athletic Bilbao v Rayo Vallecano

Newly promoted Rayo Vallecano face a tough trip to the Basque country to play Athletic Bilbao at San Mámes. Athletic have a remarkable record in La Liga for a side that makes sure all its players have ties to the Basque Country (País Vasco) through family or having been trained by clubs in the region.

Athletic will be happy to have held on to star striker Fernando Llorente as he was a key part in the clubs league campaign that saw them qualify for the Europa League.

Rayo Vallecano currently have one of the smallest first team squads in La Liga and are predicted to struggle this season. Their reputation as a yo-yo club is shown by the fact that they have played in three tiers of the Spanish League in less than a decade.

I'm backing Athletic Bilbao to overcome a handicap of 1.5 goals in this match. They just have too much quality for Rayo Vallecano and home advantage counts a lot for the Bilbao side.

Bet 2 points Athletic Bilbao -1.5 at  2.5 with bet365.