Soccer Best Bets for El Clasico, EPL and Bundesliga Matches — Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

Weekend Predictions
Premier League, Bundesliga, League Cup, La Liga

Matchup: Crystal Palace at Brighton & Hove Albion

League: Premier League
Date: Saturday Feb. 29, 7:30 a.m. ET
Venue: The American Express Community Stadium

Best Bet: Draw at 9/4

Brighton and Palace are bitter rivals in similar situations - likely to stay up but still needing more points to be certain of survival. Brighton flatter to deceive - they play well but concede too many and are too blunt going forward; Palace are the opposite: poor in general play but very solid defensively and with an ability to nick goals from nowhere. That this match is a rivalry, an early kick-off and will likely be played in bad weather - a storm is hitting the UK on Saturday - all points to low goals. A draw would probably be acceptable for both teams, and at 9/4 it looks great value.

Matchup: Chelsea at Bournemouth

League: Premier League
Date: Saturday Feb. 29, 10:00 a.m. ET
Venue: Vitality Stadium

Best Bet: Bournemouth or Draw double chance at 11/10

Chelsea took a battering at Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday and that disappointment could carry over into their match away at Bournemouth. The Cherries have a very good record against Chelsea since coming up, winning four times and losing three times. They won this fixture 4-0 last year and won at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season. Chelsea’s squad is decimated with injuries, particularly in attacking positions, and the wet and windy weather over the UK this weekend will level the playing field for underdogs. Bet against the Blues here.

Matchup: Bayer Leverkusen at RB Leipzig

League: Bundesliga
Date: Sunday Mar. 1, 9:30 a.m. ET
Venue: Red Bull Arena

Best Bet: Bayer Leverkusen +1 at 11/10

RB Leipzig are in a title race with Bayern Munich but they may be slightly overrated for the visit of Bayer Leverkusen here. Leverkusen are just five points behind Leipzig, and have put together a run of three wins in a row to give themselves an outside shot at the title. One of those wins was a thrilling 4-3 success over Borussia Dortmund, and they also beat FC Porto twice in the Europa League during that run, dominating both matches against a team with lots of European pedigree. RB are a more talented and more expansive side, but Bayer have a good away record and can cause a small upset here.

Matchup: Manchester City vs. Aston Villa

League: League Cup Final
Date: Sunday Mar. 1, 11:30 a.m. ET
Venue: Wembley Stadium

Best Bet: Both teams to score at 6/5

Manchester City are 1/7 to win the League Cup final - the shortest a side has been to win an English final in living memory - so the match result market holds little interest. City demolished Watford - a better side than Villa - 6-0 in last year’s FA Cup final and so there is does not look like they approach these games with any complacency. However only Everton have scored more than Villa in the bottom half of the Premier League, and Man City are conceding over a goal a game this year. With Jack Grealish pulling the strings they looked dangerous in the semi-final against Leicester, and they might have enough to get one goal among the stream of City strikes.

Matchup: Barcelona at Real Madrid

League: La Liga
Date: Sunday Mar. 1, 3:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Santiago

Best Bet: Draw at 13/5

Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a 0-0 draw in one of the worst Clasicos in recent times earlier in the season. There are some things that point to a different game this time around - Real are two points behind and may need to be positive, while Barcelona are naturally attacking anyway. However Real’s league games this year are averaging just 2.5 goals - very low by their standards - and they have already drawn eight times. It is still early enough in the season that this is not a must win for Real. These two sides do not win automatically anymore, and so there is a good chance that Real in fact will play quite cautiously and be content to keep the gap to just two points with 12 games remaining.