Mark O'Haire's football betting tips, best bets and nap: Goals in Girona and double trip to Scotland and France
Mark O'Haire has landed his last six selections in his column, with his season profit at +31.2. Don't miss out his tips for this weekend.
- Mark O'Haire column 21/22: +21.8pts profit | 15% return on investment
- Mark O'Haire column 22/23: +31.2pts profit | 26% return on investment
Football betting tips: Mark O'Haire
2.5pts Both Teams To Score in Girona vs Espanyol at 10/11 (bet365)
2.5pts Queen of the South and Nice to win double at 6/5 (William Hill)
Girona vs Espanyol
- Kick-off time: 13:00 BST, Saturday
- Girona 10/11 | Draw 12/5 | Espanyol 16/5
La Liga has taken the unenviable tag of being Europe’s lowest scoring major league this season with the Spanish top-flight averaging only 2.43 goals per-game - 56% of fixtures have produced Under 2.5 Goals with only 48% delivering Both Teams To Score profit. However, two sides regularly serving up enjoyable Iberian encounters lock horns on Saturday.
Girona entertain Espanyol with the pair positioned inside the top three for goals per-game averages in La Liga, as well as topping the charts for BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE, with a repeat holding plenty of appeal at 10/11 quotes with bet365.
Girona have caught the eye following their return to the top-tier. Only the Big Three – Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid – have scored more league goals than the Blanquivermells after the opening 26 rounds of action. Yet Michel’s men are operating in mid-table with the hosts collecting a solitary shutout thus far.
Espanyol are embroiled in the battle for survival at the bottom end of the table, although the Periquitos have still managed to get on the scoresheet in 23 of their 26 La Liga dates – only runaway league leaders Barcelona boast a better return. Even so, the visitors’ only clean sheet on their travels since early September came at no-hopers Elche.
With both sides providing plenty of final-third punch, and proving far from convincing at the back, BTTS is the obvious solution at Estadi Montilivi. Both Girona and Espanyol have seen Both Teams To Score click in 19/26 (73%) fixtures, and that same success-rate stands firm when digging deeper into respective home/away returns, giving us a great value option.
Queen of the South vs Peterhead and Angers vs Nice
- Kick-off time: 15:00 BST Saturday and 14:00 BST Sunday
Peterhead’s appalling Scottish League One campaign has shown little sign of abating with the Blue Toon falling to 5-0, 7-0 and 2-0 defeats in their most recent three outings. The Aberdeenshire outfit sit bottom of the third-tier with only 12 points to their name having lost 21 of their 29 fixtures and returning a disastrous -59 goal difference.
Winless away (W0-D4-L15), Peterhead have scored just six goals on their travels, conceding an average of 3.00 goals per-game, and shipping multiple strikes on 12 occasions. More recently, the Balmoor group have picked up a solitary point on the road since the start of October and managed just one goal in their last 11 games as guests.
It’s therefore quite a straightforward selection to support QUEEN OF THE SOUTH when the Doonhamers welcome Peterhead to Palmerston Park. The Dumfries club are unbeaten in four (W3-D1-L0), have tabled three triumphs in their past four home encounters (only losing to table-topping Dunfermline) and boast a good record against Peterhead.
Queens have earned 3-1, 2-0 and 4-1 victories over their beleaguered visitors already in 2022/23 and a similar scoreline is anticipated on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Angers are already preparing for life in Ligue 2 and are worth opposing again this weekend when they welcome NICE to the Raymond Kopa Stadium. Les Noirs et Blancs have been turned over in 21 of their 28 league contests and are spiralling into crisis on and off the field following a horrendous spell since September’s international break.
Le SCO have picked up only two points from a possible 60 (W0-D2-L18) across all venues and their record in front of their home supporters also leaves a lot to be desired. Angers have suffered 11 home defeats from 14 here, a return that includes nine losses from 10 winless showdowns since September, shipping multiple goals on nine occasions.
When facing top-half teams, Angers have posted W0-D0-L6 as hosts, leaking twice or more in every encounter, and a resurgent Nice should be well capable of extending that rotten streak. The visitors are unbeaten under Didier Digard’s watch (W6-D5-L0), a sample that includes eye-catching wins at Lens, Marseille, and Monaco.
The QUEEN OF THE SOUTH AND NICE win DOUBLE pays an attractive 6/5 (2.20) with William Hill.
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