Movement during matchday 24 of #RevistaPredictor
Monday 19 February 2018 10:36, UK
An exciting Matchday 24 in La Liga has led to more movement in the experts' league on the #RevistaPredictor, but the leader has extended his advantage. David Garrido reports...
A lot of decent points scored on the Predictor this week, both by a few of the pundits (wish I could say I was one of them) and by the fans, and it was a pretty entertaining weekend all in all.
And before you look down at the standings below, just remember there are 14 matchdays to go...
MATCH 1 - ATLETICO MADRID 2-0 ATHLETIC BILBAO
The Predictor lobbed up a long-hop here, pulled away for four points by Kevin Keatings and David Phillips (correct scoreline), and the rest of us got one apiece for the Atletico win, although no-one picked Kevin Gameiro as first goalscorer.
Diego Simeone's side took a while to break down their opponents, but it was a fine finish from the Frenchman who has struggled to get into any consistent form. He doesn't start much when you've got Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann to contend with, and "El Cholo" rarely deviates from his 4-4-2.
Costa got the second, his fourth goal since rejoining the club, and now Atletico are unbeaten in seven La Liga games in 2018, winning six, scoring 11 and conceding one. So far, so Simeone.
As for Athletic, it's all eggs in the Europa League basket, as they aim to see out their tie versus Spartak Moscow on Thursday.
MATCH 2 - ESPANYOL 1-1 VILLARREAL
Another four points here for Kevin, and also for Jon Driscoll who plumped for a 1-1 prediction, which arrived courtesy of Esteban Granero's sumptuous free-kick in the 85th minute, after Rodri had opened the scoring which earned Rob Palmer six points.
Live La Liga Football
Villarreal have just started to stumble a little bit - going from four wins in a row in all competitions to winless in four, including three defeats. They also have it all to do in their Europa League last-32 second leg, as they attempt to overturn a 3-1 deficit at home to Lyon.
For Espanyol, their winless La Liga run extends to six matches, but they haven't really been punished for it - they're still nine points clear of the bottom three with 14 games to go. They should be fine, and it looks like it'll be two out of Deportivo La Coruna, Las Palmas and Levante who go down with Malaga, who are propping up the table.
MATCH 3 - REAL BETIS 3-5 REAL MADRID
Congratulations to anyone who got the scoreline bang on in this one! It was typical Betis, turning 0-1 into 2-1 before half-time, and then totally imploding in the second half. Defensively they bear the hallmarks of a Quique Setien team - in other words, they're not brilliant at it.
But to be fair, there was some fantastic finishing especially from Marco Asensio for both of his goals, and Cristiano Ronaldo with Madrid's fourth.
Zinedine Zidane's side haven't covered themselves in glory at the back either, but then if they score five, who cares? They've now netted 23 goals in their last five La Liga games and have a run of very winnable matches up until the end of March, so it's perfect conditions for them to string some results together to try to secure third place in La Liga at least. One point here for everyone except Kevin, but he's stretched his lead at the top...
OVERALL STANDINGS
A couple of outstanding tweeters got into double figures this week, so they deserve a shoutout...
15 points to @TheOnlyTaps - Tapiwa got the results bang on at the Wanda and the RCDE Stadium, and also picked Marco Asensio to score first for Madrid away to Betis, plus Real Madrid to win.
11 points to @WezTucker - Wez said Gameiro would be first goalscorer for Atletico, forecast the Espanyol-Villarreal score, and a Madrid victory.
Our next trio of games will be announced, as always, on Friday on Twitter, so keep across @SkyRevista.
