talkSPORT betting tips – Best football bets and expert advice for Monday 17 February

A huge top-of-the-table clash in the Championship headlines Monday’s football action, as Leeds United welcome Sunderland to Elland Road.

There is also a game in La Liga, where title-chasing Barcelona face off against in-form Rayo Vallecano, as well as a Serie A contest between Genoa and relegation-threatened Venezia.

We’ve picked out a bet from each of those games ahead of what promises to be another busy week of football both domestically and in Europe.

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Monday football betting tips

Bet of the day

Genoa to beat Venezia @ 5/6

Remarkably, Genoa came into the new year still chasing their first home win of the season in Serie A, but they have triumphed in both their matches at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in 2025, with both victories, over Parma and Monza, being accompanied by clean-sheets.

Those wins had been coming, with the Liguria-based outfit having lost just three of 12 matches since Patrick Vieira’s appointment as head coach in November.

Vieira has helped Genoa pull seven points clear of the relegation zone during his short time in charge and they can further boost their survival hopes with a victory over struggling Venezia.

Venezia sit in the relegation zone, have won only one of their last 14 league matches and hold the worst away record in the division, picking up just four points and no victories from their 12 road fixtures.

Special of the day

Barcelona to win, over 3.5 goals and Pedri to score at any time @ 22/5

Barcelona are by far and away the leading scorers in La Liga, netting 64 goals across their 23 games to date, while since the turn of the year alone they have scored four or more times  in seven of their 11 matches across all competitions.

Hansi Flick’s side can maintain that hot streak when Rayo Vallecano head to Catalonia, although the visitors are themselves in form, winning three La Liga games on the bounce and scoring in 13 consecutive matches across all competitions, suggesting they can also contribute to a high-scoring game.

In terms of anytime score options, Barca midfielder Pedri is an interesting choice, as, despite not being prolific, he has three goals in his last two appearances against Rayo, including a brace when they last locked horns at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys earlier in the season.

Long shot of the day

Correct Score: Leeds 2-0 Sunderland @ 11/2

Since losing to Burnley at Elland Road in mid-September, Leeds have won 12 and lost none of their 13 league matches on home soil and have remarkably conceded just three goals during that sequence.

Home or away, the Whites have not let in a goal in any of their last six Championship games and 2-0 has become a familiar scoreline, with nine of their 20 league wins finishing in that manner.

Promotion rivals Sunderland – themselves unbeaten in all eight of their league fixtures since the turn of the year – will provide a stern test to Daniel Farke’s side, but they may not be able to stop a team who have scored two or more goals in 12 of their last 13 home league matches.

Take Leeds to win this 2-0 – a result that would boost their own promotion hopes while denting the prospects of one of their direct rivals for a top-two finish.

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Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change*

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