Betis believed it for much of last season: to get into at least the top three of the table. But then in the second half of the season Pellegrini’s team changed gear, squandering in a short time what they had managed to build during the first half. This year’s home opener against Elche looks soft, and the Andalusian green-and-whites certainly have a good chance of starting the season with a win.
It’s true that in the last Betis clash at home, Elche hit the jackpot: it was last April and the visitors won one-nil, surely one of the most important victories of last year. It is unlikely to be the same this year on August bank holiday: the clear feeling is that Pellegrini’s team, who scrambled Fiorentina in the last pre-season friendly, have all the right cards to take the win.
©LaPresse
The Prediction
A Betis victory is in order. The hosts want to get the season off to the best possible start and have no intention of giving up points to a team that is definitely fighting for a different goal. If Betis wants to at least try to play in the Champions League next year, Elche’s guests would be content to take a quiet salvation again. But there are other games to score points.
Betis-Elche’s likely line-up
BETIS (4-4-2): Bravo; Sabaly, Pezzella, Bartra, Moreno; Fekir, Iglesias, Canales, Rodriguez; Juanmi, Carvalho.
ELCHE (4-4-2): Badia; Clerc, Roco, Palacios, Bigas; Gumbau, Marti, Mascarell, Mojica; Ponce, Milla.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
