Real Betis will invite Girona to Estadio Benito Villamarín in their La Liga campaign opener on Thursday. Both teams secured a top-10 finish in the league last season, with the visitors finishing third with 81 points, 24 more than the hosts, who finished seventh.
The hosts concluded their pre-season on a three-game unbeaten streak and held Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw last week. Juanmi was on the scoresheet, scoring minutes after coming off the bench in the second half.
The visitors had a busy pre-season, playing seven friendlies. They had just one win in these games and suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two games. They met Bournemouth in their final friendly and suffered a 3-2 loss, with Joel Roca and Cristhian Stuani scoring in that match.
Real Betis vs Girona Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There is not much history between the two teams and they have met 18 times in all competitions. The hosts have the upper hand in these meetings with 13 wins. The visitors have three wins to their name and two games have ended in draws.
- The visitors were unbeaten in their two meetings against the visitors, recording a home win while the away meeting ended in a draw.
- The hosts were winless in their last three league games of the 2023-24 season, failing to score in the last two.
- Girona's 3-2 home win against Betis last season was their first win in this fixture since 2010.
- Real Betis have scored at least two goals in four of their last five meetings against the visitors.
- Betis have suffered just one loss at home against the visitors. Interestingly, they are yet to keep a clean sheet at home against the visitors.
Real Betis vs Girona Prediction
Los Verdiblancos concluded the pre-season on a three-game unbeaten run, drawing their last two games. They have a good home record in this fixture and have won four of their last six home meetings against the visitors. Ayoze Pérez, Isco, Cédric Bakambu, and Nobel Mendy are unavailable for the campaign opener for Manuel Pellegrini.
Blanquivermells endured a poor run in the pre-season, failing to score in three of their last five friendlies. They scored seven goals in their last three away games in the competition and will look to continue that form in this match.
Oriol Romeu, Gabriel Misehouy, and Donny van de Beek have participated in regular training and are in contention to make their debut for the club.
Considering the recent history between the two teams, a high-scoring draw is likely to ensue.
Prediction: Real Betis 2-2 Girona
Real Betis vs Girona Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Draw
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: At least one goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
Tip 4: Cristhian Stuani to score or assist any time - Yes