Decided to Predict the First Scorer
Okay so last night I had this itch to see if I could guess who’d score first between Espanyol and Betis. Felt like trying something different for fun, you know? Grabbed my laptop around 8 PM, sat on this uncomfortable kitchen chair. Opened up a browser tab first thing.
Started scrambling to find the confirmed lineups. That alone took longer than it should have. Searched Twitter, checked about four different sport pages, hit refresh like a crazy person hoping something official would pop up faster.
The Actual Lineup Hunt
Finally found it. Espanyol sticking with their usual suspect up front, Pere Milla seemed likely. Betis had Borja Iglesias starting, obvious threat there. Mentally tagged those two guys immediately. Also noticed Joaquín was playing further up for Betis – never know with that old wizard.
- Espanyol Key Names: Joselu, RDT (but bench?), Melamed
- Betis Key Names: Borja Iglesias, Fekir, Canales, Joaquín
Figured the Betis attacking guys looked stronger on paper. Especially Borja Iglesias. My gut started leaning his way.
Deep Dive Research Attempt
Tried being smart. Pulled up some stats sites. Needed to see who usually scores EARLY for these teams. Stats are messy, man. Trying to filter by ‘first goalscorer’ was a pain in the butt. Ended up scanning old match summaries one by one – totally inefficient.
Here’s what felt relevant:
- Borja Iglesias got the first goal in Betis’s last two matches.
- Espanyol? Joselu scored first last week, but before that… hazy.
- Fekir tends to assist more early on.
- Betis generally starts games fast.
Making the Call & Tracking Live
Alright, placed my mental bet. Went firmly with Borja Iglesias scoring first. Seemed the solid choice. Kicked back with some snacks, stream up on another tab.
Game starts, Betis immediately presses. My heart jumped with every Betis attack near the box. Minute 10… Fekir fires wide. Minute 15… Borja gets a header that sails over. Getting antsy.
Then BOOM! Right around the 18 minute mark, Betis wins a free kick. Plays it short, cross comes in… and WHO pops up? Borja friggin’ Iglesias! Headed it straight in! Felt like a genius for a hot minute.
Took a quick screenshot of the scorer graphic just as proof, saved it on my desktop alongside all my messy research tabs.
Wrap Up Thoughts
Honestly? Got lucky this time. Stats and gut feeling lined up perfectly. But it felt super satisfying actually following a team’s patterns and having it work out immediately in the game like that. Helps that Borja Iglesias is just consistent. Would I try it again for a different game? Maybe. Depends how bored I am on a Tuesday night and how messed up the lineup looks. Mostly it’s just dumb luck pretending to be research!
