REMEMBER Terry Gibson? Well, we've signed him and while he won't be kicking a football he'll be looking into his crystal ball and bringing us his best Spanish tips every week.
The ex-Spurs, Coventry and Manchester United striker is probably best remembered for his time as part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang side of the late 80s and early 90s. Now an expert in all things La Liga he works as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage and is a contributor to unibet.
Terry kicks off his weekend tips with a look at Real Madrid's trip to city rivals Getafe.
Getafe v Real Madrid (Saturday 3.15pm)
This is an interesting game. Getafe so far this season at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez have been pretty reasonable. It’s been a devilish start to the season regarding home fixtures where they have faced Sevilla, Barcelona and Villarreal in their opening three games and now Madrid are up this weekend.
Results wise it’s not been too bad at all. Narrow defeats to Sevilla and Barcelona and a thumping 4-0 win against Villarreal mean that they are going into this game at the very least expecting to be competitive.
Madrid on the other hand will have been boosted that they won their first home game of the season last time out against Espanyol and will be hopeful that they can continue to show the fine run of form away from home that has led them to three wins out of three so far.
Jose Bordalás has constructed a team that are well organised in defence and midfield, are hard to play against and rely on a 35-year-old striker in Jorge Molina to come up with the goals. Molina’s strike partner Amath N’Diaye, who is 14 years younger, certainly looks like he has the potential to succeed at this level and should be somebody that Ramos and Varane keep an eye on in this game.
This game could be tricky and complicated for Madrid but I still expect them to prevail over plucky Getafe.
Selection from Zidane will be interesting with Benzema and Marcelo back in training after injury and with the Champions League game against Spurs in midweek, so first goalscorer is a difficult one. Therefore I’m going to play safe with Ronaldo, who should start, to open the scoring and a 2-1 away win for Madrid.
Terry's Tips
- Correct score: Getafe 1, Real Madrid 2 (15-2, Unibet)
- First Scorer: Ronaldo (23-10, Unibet)
- Ronaldo to score (1-2, Unibet)
Atletico Madrid v Barcelona (Saturday 7.45pm)
This is a great opportunity for Atletico to close the gap on Barcelona and show they are not a team that keep coming up short against better sides.
Last season they drew and lost against both Barca and Real in La Liga, got knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Barcelona and knocked out of the Champions League against Real. Their recent defeat against Chelsea continues the theme.
Controversially, in my opinion, this game will be played exclusively in front of Atletico fans! Atletico declared that logistically it was difficult for them to give Barcelona any tickets for traveling supporters so they are not going to bother giving any at all.
So after Messi carrying an entire nation on his back midweek against Ecuador he is now going to have to take on just the 67,000 fervent Simeone disciples in the Wanda Metropolitano this weekend.
It’s maximum points for Barcelona in La Liga so far this season, backed up by the same in the Champions League, and I’m going to back them to continue that run in this game. Can you imagine how good they will be when Luis Suarez finds some form too.
Atletico of course will be a tough nut to crack but I just feel Simeone is struggling at the moment to get the balance right between defence and attack. You kind of get the feeling that he wants to be more expansive but he can’t take the brakes off just yet, particularly in the bigger games.
Expect Griezmann to be playing at left-back at times! Because of this and the fact that Barcelona and in particular Messi are in the groove I’m going to go with an away win with a narrow margin.
With his goalscoring exploits so far this season I can’t go for anyone else other than Messi to get the opener in a 2-1 win for Barcelona.
Terry's Tips
- Correct score: Atletico Madrid 1, Barcelona 2 (8-1, Unibet)
- First Scorer: Messi (4-1, Unibet)
- Barcelona to win and btts (19-5, Unibet)
Unibet are making a big splash in the UK betting scene and if you join them today you can claim up to £30 in Welcome Bonuses when you deposit and place your first bet.
An ex-Tottenham, Coventry and Manchester United striker, Terry is probably best remembered for his time as part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang side of the late 80s and early 90s. Now an expert in all things La Liga, he works as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage.
