(Malaga's excellent Santi Cazorla curls in a free kick)
Malaga take on Athletic Bilbao at home in what is an interesting clash of cultures, with Malaga seen as the Manchester City of Spanish football having spent inordinate amounts of money in the summer on marquee signings up against Bilbao the club that have an official policy of only signing Basque players. After a disappointing start where they lost to rivals (in terms of where both teams are hoping to finish) Sevilla, Malaga have come back strongly to win 4-0 against Granada & then 1-0 away to Granada. New signing Santi Cazorla has scored 3 in 3 games so far, they have a great strikeforce with veteran Ruud Van Nistelrooy leading the line & Julio 'the beast' Baptista backing up in a deeper role, multiple options in midfield & an improved defence with the experienced Argentinian Martin Demichelis being a rock at the centre. Athletic Bilbao have yet to win this season & probably overachieved in finishing 6th in 2010-11, Malaga just have too many options & can find the key to beating them in their continuuing charge for a Champions League place - at odds of 4/6 they need to be backed.
High flying Championship side Southampton take on Preston who have had a similarly good start in League One at St Mary's in a game that should show the difference in quality between the two leagues. Preston have already conceded 9 goals in their 7 league games so far but managed to maintain success by keeping up their scoring but with free scoring Southampton (19 goals in the league already) they will not be able to score enough to stop a loss this time. Southampton are 4/7 to win the game & should play a strong enough side to win this one & score goals in the process.
Selections:
Malaga to beat Athletic Bilbao at 4/6 (general)
Southampton to beat Preston at 4/7 (general)
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