La Liga Round 1: Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction, Preview, Stream, Odds and Picks

Vicente Moreno became the new Almeria head coach to face a challenge in La Liga this season. The new gaffer, who signed for one year, arrived from Saudi Arabian team Al Sharab, where he has excelled in his first campaign in the home country of Almeria owner and President Turki Alalshikh.

Many expected Saudi-owned Almeria to be massive spenders when they won promotion to the top flight last year, but partly due to La Liga’s budget restrictions, they’ve been considerably more cautious in their transfer activity. There have been just two new additions so far this summer including that of forward Luis Suarez who was at the club last term on loan.

They lost arguably their most important striker with El Bilal Toure has completing his move to Atalanta. The club’s record transfer of the Malian footballer exceeded those made back in the day of Darwin Nunez to Portuguese side Benfica and Sadiq to Real Sociedad.

They have some good options all over the pitch but they do struggle at the back so we expect them to once again conceded at least one goal on Friday. If you’re betting online you shouldn’t trust them against Rayo Vallecano.

Rayo Vallecano: New beginnings

It has been a summer of change in Rayo, but one that everyone connected with Rayo knew was coming. Andoni Iraola left the team following three successful three years at the club and some key players have followed him out the door. The new coach is Francisco who was sacked by Elche following a late 2-1 defeat against Iraola’s Rayo last October.

Three key players have departed the Madrid club with Fran Garcia, Alejandro Catena and Santi Comesana all first team regulars last season. Not just that, but their budget is limited. have tended to recruit well though and they look to have done some solid business with Pacha Espino and Aridane Hernandez arriving on free transfers while key centre-back Florian Lejeune converted his loan into a permanent deal.

With a coach, new tactics and lack of key players, Rao Vallecano will definitely struggle this term so we won’t include them in our soccer picks and parlays. Rayo could certainly slip back towards the relegation scrap but they will definitely score goals because they still have Raul de Tomas in their squad.

Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Head-to-Head

Almeria finished 17th last season, just one point above the relegation zone. They had the third-worst defense in the league with 65 goals conceded in 38 games. They recorded ten wins in 19 home games scoring 29 goals in the process. On the other side, Rayo Vallecano finished 11th, just eight points above Almeria.

They scored 17 goals on the road last season winning just four away games all season long. The two teams shared the spoils last year, both winning their home games, Almeria 3-1 on home turf while Rayo managed to keep a clean sheet in front of their fans beating Friday’s opponents 2-0 at Campo de Futbol de Vallecas.

Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Match Information

• Match: Almeria (0-0-0) vs Rayo Vallecano (0-0-0)
• Location: Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos, Almeria
• Day/Time: Friday, Aug. 11, 1:30 p.m. ET
• Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Live Stream: fubo.tv

Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Betting Lines

Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Picks and Prediction

Almeria enters this clash as slight favorites being priced at +140 on the three-way moneyline according to the latest soccer odds while the goal line is set at 2½.

With two new coaches, many new players and change of tactics, it’s difficult to predict how this clash will finish. Let’s not forget that this is the season opener, the very first match of the new campaign so both sides will try to start their season with a win. On top of that, both sides struggled at the back last term so the best approach is to back at least three goals on the scoresheet.