Spanish football expert Tim Clement provides his predictions for tonight's LaLiga fixtures, finding odds-against ways to back Barcelona and Real Madrid.
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Barcelona and Real Madrid should have tasks that are more straightforward in LaLiga on Wednesday, with both strong home favourites to build on crucial weekend victories.
The duo came through stern tests of their title credentials in dramatic fashion on Sunday, with Lionel Messi saving Barcelona late on at Atletico Madrid before leaders Real benefited from a controversial penalty decision to come from 2-0 down to beat Villarreal.
They should have it more their own way in midweek as struggling sides visit the Nou Camp and the Bernabeu.
Barcelona v Sporting Gijon (Wednesday 1830 GMT, Sky Sports 2)
Messi came to the rescue yet again at the weekend, keeping his side's title hopes alive and wolves from Luis Enrique's door with an 86th-minute winner at Atletico.
That made it successive Sundays in which he's bagged Barca a 2-1 win late on, albeit against contrasting opponents, with lowly Leganes previously pushing them close.
Their latest win will have helped relieve the residue of their 4-0 thumping at PSG and they've now got two home games to prepare to overhaul that deficit.
Neymar's form will be of the greatest concern, with the Brazilian scoring just six league goals this season, none of which has come at the Nou Camp. That's the same tally as West Brom's 37-year-old centre-back Gareth McAuley.
Luis Suarez has also failed to score in his last three games in all competitions, placing even greater onus on Messi, who is top-priced at 5/1 (Paddy Power) to score a hat-trick.
They did manage to win the reverse fixture 5-0 without their talisman, while third-from-bottom Sporting were hit for six in their previous trip to the Nou Camp.
Rubi's men, who can be backed at 40/1 with BetVictor, have reasons to believe they can produce a more competitive display this time round, having collected a rare win over Leganes before pushing Atletico close and holding Celta Vigo to a draw
However, with fellow strugglers Deportivo awaiting at the weekend, their efforts may well be compromised once Messi and co find a way to breach their backline.
Real Madrid v Las Palmas (Wednesday, 2030 GMT, Sky Sports 2)
Zinedine Zidane's men retrieved victory from an even more treacherous situation than their great rivals at the weekend, coming from two goals down to beat Villarreal.
While the penalty awarded for their second was fortunate at the very least, it was the of response of champions, breaking down the league's best defence three times in 19 minutes to maintain their advantage at the top of the table and shorten to 1/2 for the title.
However, scrutiny over Zidane's selections intensified at the weekend with Isco and Alvaro Morata seen laughing on the bench together as their team trailed before pushing their claims for regular starting berths again.
Isco, who has been benched for the last two games despite assisting both goals in his last start against Espanyol, came on at 2-0 to spark the comeback, while Morata scored the all-important winner.
That heaped further pressure on the misfiring Karim Benzema, who has netted just five times in 18 appearances this season, leaving him with a worse goals-per-minute ratio than six team-mates, including Sergio Ramos, Isco and Morata.
In fact, at one every 93 minutes, Morata now has the best goals-per-minute ratio at the club, making him the value pick at 7/2 (Sky Bet) to net first, if he starts.
Wednesday's task looks far more simple with Las Palmas losing their last four and recording a solitary win outside Gran Canaria this season.
They've scored just one goal during their dismal run so a third successive win to nil (6/5 with Sky Bet) looks a likelihood for the leaders, with the Bernabeu natives hoping for less tension than the side has provided over a testing week.
Posted at 0935 GMT on 01/03/17.
