Last week’s results saw Real Madrid leapfrog arch rivals Barcelona at top of the table.

Both teams are now leveled on points but the merengues lead the way on goal difference. There was also a pleasant surprise at the other end of the table as rock-bottom Xerez stunned Málaga in an electrifying 20 minutes that saw them bagging their first away win of the season. Néstor Gorosito’s men are now 10 points away from safety and it seems they won’t go down without a fight.

On Saturday Sevilla host Deportivo at the Pizjuán in a crucial clash for the last Champions League spot. Jiménez’s men wasted a 2-0 lead against Real at the Bernabéu last weekend eventually losing the game in the dying seconds, and this shows just how difficult it is to beat them. Romaric and Renato should be back in midfield after both missed last week’s game through suspension and injury respectively. However, Álvaro Negredo could be the only available striker as Frederic Kanouté is doubtful after suffering a knock in training and Luis Fabiano is not ready yet to play 90 minutes – the Brazilian is still recovering from a chest injury that’s kept him on the sidelines for 3 weeks.

Deportivo have only conceded 13 goals on their travels this season – falling only behind Barcelona (8) and Real Madrid (10) – although they are looking to win their first match away from Riazor since late November. In order to address his team’s poor away form, Depor manager Lotina is considering changing his 4-2-3-1 system to a more offensive 4-3-3, thus it’ll be exciting to see whether the experiment has a positive impact on their game. Best news for Depor though is the return to form after injury of Tunisian striker Lassad, who played 10 minutes last week against Tenerife and he’ll be fighting for a start. Sevilla are 7/10 to win the game, although if you think Depor can pull out something special here you can back them at a very tempting 15/4 at BlueSquare

This week’s partido de la jornada will see Barcelona taking on Valencia at the Nou Camp. Guardiola will need to come to a decision on who’ll who replace the banned Ibrahimovic after his sending off against Almería last week, with Thierry Henry and Bojan the most likely contenders. Tradition says that clashes between culés and chés end up being high-scoring affairs due to the attacking approach of both teams and even though both sides have suffered a dip in form recently, I would not be surprised if we see a few goals in this one. A price of 3/4 on both teams to score seems like a good bet.

Real Madrid travel to Valladolid in the wake of their shocking exit from this season’s Champions League on Wednesday as Lyon’s outstanding second half proved too hot to handle for the galácticos. Real’s defeat in Europe means the domestic league is the only competition they can win this season and I would expect them to come back strongly against one of the weakest teams in La Liga. Cristiano Ronaldo – who has scored in Real’s last five matches – is available at 14/1 to score a hat-trick. Gonzalo Higuaín, who has hit the woodwork 3 times in the last two games, will be looking to rediscover his goalscoring form and is 8/11 to score a goal at any time. However, if you think he is going to make it three in a row then you can back him at 7/1 to hit the woodwork one more time.