La Liga’s Away Specialists - The Teams thriving on the Road

One of the themes this season in La Liga has been how a number of sides seem to be enjoying life on their travels more than they do playing in front of their own fans. With just one round of fixtures to go in 2018 before the relatively short winter break in the Spanish top flight, there are currently 6 teams who have amassed more points away than at home this term while a further 2 have identical tallies home and away.

In some cases the difference is quite dramatic. Leaders Barcelona remain the side with the best overall away record with 17 points from 8 road games so far. That’s the same as their haul from their 8 home matches but it’s worth looking a little closer at some of the other sides flourishing away from home in a season when there often seems to be value in backing the away team in the Double Chance markets.

Here are some of La Liga’s away day specialists:

Real Sociedad

Away Record – 4 Wins, 1 Draw, 4 Defeats
Away Points Per Game – 1.44
Home Points Per Game – 0.86

Real Sociedad were one of three fancied teams who seemed to take an eternity to record their first home win. La Real’s stadium underwent some serious renovation in the summer which resulted in them playing their first three matches on the road but they’ve been slow to get going at their new-look home in more ways than one. Heading into the festive period, only one of their five league wins this season has come at the Anoeta but they’ll be hoping to change that on Friday at home to Alaves.

Even their away form has been letting them down a touch of late but their haul of 13 points on the road is still the second best in the Spanish Primera Division. However only bottom club Huesca have collected fewer home points and these are slightly concerning times for Asier Garitano who hasn’t had the sort of impact he would have hoped for following his summer move from Leganes.

Levante

Real Madrid’s season goes from bad to worse.

Levante lead 2-0 at the Bernabeu!

LIVE: https://t.co/4PFqoOEbp9 pic.twitter.com/C3hY6d0I80

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 20, 2018

Away Record – 3 Wins, 3 Draws, 2 Defeats
Away Points Per Game – 1.5
Home Points Per Game – 1.25

Levante are another team averaging more points on the road than they do at home and in some ways they are the most interesting case. Their style of play is totally suited to playing away from home with Paco Lopez happy to allow the opposition to have the ball and utilise a counter-attacking style, not dissimilar to the one that fired Leicester to Premier League glory. The likes of Jose Luis Morales give them real pace on the break and that has been a big factor in impressive away wins against both Real Madrid and Real Betis already this season.

A crushing 5-0 home defeat to Barcelona last weekend may have taken the wind out of their sails to some extent but they were also beaten 6-2 on their own patch by Sevilla earlier in the campaign and they bounced back well. Their away record since Paco Lopez took charge at the end of last season has been exceptional with the Valencia club currently unbeaten in 5 away league matches and having won 6 of their last 14 on the road in La Liga, losing just 4.

Girona

Away Record – 3 Wins, 3 Draws, 2 Defeats
Away Points Per Game – 1.5
Home Points Per Game – 1.125

Girona have had another pretty good season so far despite the departure of Pablo Machin in the summer as well as injuries in the wing-back area where they were so strong last term. In truth they have ridden their luck at times away with some outstanding goalkeeping displays from Bono a big reason for their shock win at the Mestalla and hard-fought draw away to Real Sociedad.

However the difference between their home and away form is still striking. They’ve only managed to win 2 of their last 13 home league fixtures, taking just 10 points from them. That would represent relegation form, if it wasn’t for their impressive away record. The Catalans were the final team to lose their first away game in the 2018/19 Primera Division and went 9 games and 8 months without defeat on the road in a run starting with a 2-1 victory at Alaves in April and ending with a derby victory at Espanyol late last month.

Real Valladolid

🙌🏻💜 El Real Valladolid suma doce puntos lejos de Zorrilla y, solo por detrás de Barcelona y Real Sociedad, es uno de los mejores visitantes de la máxima categoría

👉🏻 https://t.co/OcvyXa4EK3#pucela #RealValladolid pic.twitter.com/eYGpZlQ57n

— Real Valladolid C.F. (@realvalladolid) December 11, 2018

Away Record – 3 Wins, 3 Draws, 2 Defeats
Away Points Per Game – 1.5
Home Points Per Game – 1

The general blueprint for unfancied newly promoted teams in any league is to try and make yourself difficult to beat at home and scrape what you can on the road. Valladolid certainly fell into that category at the start of the season but have gone against the conventional wisdom by flourishing away from home whilst struggling a little bit to get the right results in front of their own fans.

60% of their points this term have come on their travels and they’ve avoided defeat in 75% of their road games which is exceptional for a newly promoted side. They’ve collected more points overall than the other two newly promoted sides combined and it’s easy to forget that it was in fact they who came up via the play-offs while Rayo Vallecano and Huesca won automatic promotion.

Getafe

Away Record – 2 Wins, 5 Draws, 1 Defeat
Away Points Per Game – 1.375
Home Points Per Game – 1.625

From a purely points perspective, Getafe aren’t one of the eight teams that are at least matching their home results on the road but they have unquestionably developed a real liking for life on their travels. They currently boast La Liga’s longest unbeaten away streak having not lost on the road since an opening day defeat at the Bernabeu.

Going even further back, Getafe have suffered just 1 defeat in 12 away league matches, an outstanding record for another side who are only in their second season back at this level. Defensively they are very strong, again averaging less than a goal per game conceded and their niggly and at times overly physical approach is making them a team that no other team in the Spanish top flight looks forward to playing against and with good reason judging by their results.

Admittedly over half of their away games have ended level and they are perhaps a few creative players short of reaching the next level but the stats and their away from strongly suggests there is value to be found in backing them in the Double Chance market when they play on the road. They are next in action this Friday at Girona.