Málaga CF v SD Eibar Betting Tips

Málaga and Eibar, two sides who’ve made contrasting starts to the new campaign. The hosts, having drawn two and lost two, certainly haven’t sprung into life this season and have been un-impressive so far. On the other hand, Eibar, with one loss, one win and two draws to their name, have actually performed with plenty of credit and appear to have been very much overlooked in the betting ahead of this fixture.

It’s hard not be a fan of the story surrounding Eibar in recent years. Hailing from a small city of around 28,000 inhabitants, Los Armeros gained promotion to the top flight in 2014 and, despite a shaky first season, they’ve held their own ever since. This time around they are unbeaten since the opening day – where a 87th minute penalty cost them what would have been a well earned point away at Deportivo – and currently sit nicely in 7th position.

The visitors have made a name for themselves as being a side who’re hard to beat, they seemingly never give up and, in addition to their tenacious spirit, they’ve made some excellent acquisitions in the transfer market this time around. Alejandro Gálvez and Florian Lejeune (joined from Werder Bremen and Man City) have added that little bit extra at the back, while signing Bebé, Pedro León and Rubén Peña looks to have given them greater options and more creativity in the final third – a department which, given the fact that they’ve scored in all four of their matches so far – they are unlikely to face too many problems.

As for Málaga they have generally been one of La Liga’s less interesting teams to follow over the past few seasons. They play seemingly slow football and have generally struggled to find much of a spark since the departure of Manuel Pellegrini back in 2013. Although they tend to be a side who’re pretty solid defensively, they’ve conceded in each of their four matches so far this season and have offered very little going forward – failing to score in each of their last two. The fact that they’ve managed to register just four attempts on target in their last two matches combined says a lot about this Málaga side and unless they can change things pretty sharpish they could be set to struggle this season.

From a betting point of view, backing Eibar in this fixture is certainly worth a go, although, given the apparent underestimation by bookmakers, taking the visitors in the ‘Draw No Bet’ market is definitely the best option. Given that Eibar have been by far the more impressive out of these two so far this campaign, odds of 5/2 are just too good to miss here.

The visitors are more than capable of keeping things tight at the back and, with the personnel discussed above, should have enough about them to create sufficient openings at the other end.

At much bigger odds (15/2), ‘Eibar to Win & Under 2.5 Goals’ is another bet to go for. There probably won’t be an abundance of goals in this fixture. Eibar tend to be involved in their share of low-scorers, while Málaga’s attacking efforts have been largely fruitless up until this point. Moreover, the hosts have lost each of their last two encounters with less than three goals being scored. If such an outcome was to arise for a third match in succession it really wouldn’t be a huge surprise.

To see all of Tuesday’s tips click here.