La Liga Return: The Odds to Make Top Four

The Spanish top flight is returning with every team having 11 games remaining, all of which being played behind closed doors.

Returning on Thursday June 11 with Sevilla kicking proceedings off against Real Betis, Los Palanganas - currently third in the table - go into to restart with a big chance of achieving a top four finish. However, they will have to overcome some tough competition from the teams around them if they are going to get there.

Other teams in contention for a top four finish include European regulars, Atletico Madrid, along with Real Sociedad, Valencia, surprise packages of the season, Getafe and Villarreal, who fell off the pace after losing their last three league games.

We have looked at the current odds provided by Sky Bet, to see which teams could finish in La Liga's top four places and bag themselves qualification to the Champions League.

Diego Simeone's side have been solid at the back this season having only conceded just 21 goals which is the league's second-best defence behind their city rivals, Real Madrid.

However, the focus on defence has meant that goals up the other end of the pitch have been somewhat few and far between. Alvaro Morata has done a decent job as a replacement for Antoine Griezmann by scoring 11 goals so far, although Joao Felix is still finding his feet whilst Diego Costa has been misfiring in front of goal with only 21% of his 14 shots this season being on target.

One thing in Atletico's favour is that they do have the third-best run of form in the league and have not lost any of their last seven matches in all competitions.

Now, despite currently lying in sixth place, they are just one point off fourth-placed Real Sociedad and two off third-placed, Sevilla so the table is fairly congested as go into the closing stages of the season.

Their next five games are rather favourable for them as they face teams currently below them, four of which currently in the bottom half of the table so Simeone will surely be targeting no less than 15 points just before they face Barcelona at the end of the month, something that will give their top four chances a real boost.

Atletico are now 4/11 to make it to the top four.

Sevilla can be proud of their achievements so far this season. The club are third in the table with 13 league wins to their name and the Europa League regulars have given themselves a decent chance of going one better this time around.

Julen Lopetegui has done a fine job in his first season at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. However, they have struggled to have a quality replacement for the prolific striker, Wissam Ben Yedder, who departed for Monaco last summer.

Their Europa League record has been consistently excellent over the years but they have failed to make their mark in Champions League territory. If they were to get a top four finish, the former Spain boss, Lopetegui, could be the one to help them to the next level.

Going into the restart, Los Palanganas have been in very good form with just one league defeat in their last seven games including their convincing 3-0 win over Getafe, their biggest league win of the season.

Observing their end of season run-in of fixtures, the main objective would be to try and secure a top four finish with at least two matches to spare considering their final two games consist of a tough trip to Sociedad followed by a visit from Valencia.

Sevilla are priced at 2/5 to achieve top four status.

A team that have experienced a huge improvement from last season's ninth placed finish, Sociedad are currently just four points short of the 50 points they recorded throughout the whole of last season.

One player that has had a huge hand in this successful season is 28-year-old striker, Willian Jose, a player that has attracted interest from a number of Premier League sides. The Brazilian U20 international has scored nine goals from his 26 La Liga appearances this season.

Heading into the restart, the club from San Sebastian have made themselves a team to look out for as they are currently in second place in the La Liga form table behind only Barcelona on goal difference.

Their run of impressive form has even stretched to the Copa del Rey and they now have seven wins from their last eight matches, including their thrilling 4-3 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the cup.

Imano Alguacil's side have made their home a fortress in the past year so they will be grateful to have six of their remaining 11 matches at the Reale Arena. It has been over a year since they last failed to score at home and they are now 2/1 to make it to the top four for next season.

Since their promotion from the Liga Segunda in 2017, Getafe have been something of a surprise package with two, soon to probably be three, top half finishes in the top flight - they are 11/4 to reach the top four.

El Geta currently sit in fifth place and lie outside the top four on goals scored with Sociedad (the tiebreak of head to head points is only used when both teams have played against each other twice).

Their main source of goals this season have come from the veteran forwards, Jaime Mata, Jorge Molina and Angel Rodriguez, with 23 of their 37 league goals this season coming from the trio.

Similarly to league rivals, Sevilla, Getafe may need to think about whether they would be willing to sacrifice their Europa League campaign if it were to strengthen their chances of a top four finish and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their 36-year history.

With a difficult run in where they have to face both Real and Atletico Madrid, they are soon going to have to regurgitate the form they picked up in January and February, where they won four consecutive matches without conceding a goal, if they are to have a realistic shout of getting in the top four ahead of the likes of Atletico, Sevilla and Sociedad.

By Rob Spereall