Valencia 1-0 Real Sociedad – Betting Review
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 market first. Real Sociedad were the favourites @ 2.40 but as outlined in our preview, Valencia had an edge.
That edge was that they had a new manager (hero ex-player) in front of a noisy and hostile home ground, making them a value bet in this game. And the hugely struggling Valencia is @ 3.05 were the winners due to that added bit and passion in their efforts.
Moving onto the Asian handicap betting for this contest. Due to the desire and new manager bounce, Valencia was a preference with a +0.25 start @ 1.82. These kind of bets are always ugly but as happened here, often pay off due to the angle and the value.
Looking at The Under/Over goal betting last of all, where the line was set at 2.25 and the Under won @ 1.80.
Match Summary
Valencia played with excellent passion and desire over the course of the game and managed to overcome a Real Sociedad that struggled to find fluidity and when they did, missed their best openings.
A rejuvenated Valencia registered their first La Liga win since November with this narrow and very hard fought 1-0 victory
For UEFA Champions League hopefuls Real Sociedad, the loss against Los Che is a crushing blow and means their downturn in form continues.
Valencia’s new manager Rubén Baraja received the hero welcome as expected and got his home record in the hotseat off to the perfect start.
Valencia began proceedings deep in relegation trouble, but immediately harried and hustled high-flying Real Sociedad.
At times, nobody could tell which team was sitting third and which had their top-flight lives on the line, and it was Valencia’s renewed intensity which led to the opening goal.
Not long before the break Samuel Lino lurked at the back post to get on a low cross but before he could make contact, Sociedad defender Igor Zubeldia inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net for 1-0.
Sociedad didn’t click in the first half but improved when chasing the game in the second half, but never quite got to grips with a snappy Valencia that were clearly playing for their new boss
The expectation for the second half was for a barrage of attacking from the Basque visitors, but it was Valencia who seemingly fashioned the best chance for 2-0, much to their credit
Hugo Duro looked to have tempted substitute Alex Sola into a foul on him in the box, but despite the on-field decision being a penalty, a VAR review confirmed there was no contact and it was overturned.
Valencia battled hard and restricted their visitors to speculative pot-shots and half-chances in the dying moments.
Lino almost secured the three points late on too, but his strike cannoned back off the post. Fair score 2-1.
