Tuesday menu: three neighbourhood skirmishes to kickstart 2024 in La Liga

The previous year saw quite a few surprises in La Liga, with Girona shockingly leading the title race ahead of giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Los Blancos, however, managed to join the Catalan minnows at the top in the dying hours of 2023, but it seems that 2024 will provide us with plenty of excitement, too. Tuesday night is about to present us with three interesting match-ups between the local rivals: Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alaves of Basque Country, Valencia and Villarreal of the Valencian community and, finally, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano of Madrid.

The majority of those six teams are located in the middle of La Liga table, with Sociedad being the most notable side both in domestic and international terms.

Currently sitting in sixth place, Sociedad are also doing an excellent job in the Champions League, where they've been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the knockout stage.

Led by impeccable Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq, the white-blues are massive favourites against their next-door neighbours, Alaves, who have lost three in a row.

Umar Sadiq's injury saga: I learned the names of the physios before I could get to know my teammates

They are 16th at the moment, just three points afloat of the relegation zone, and another loss could see them dropping entirely into a dangerous area.

On the other hand, two slots from the suburbia of Madrid, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, are not bothered by the relegation bells as they live calmly in the upper-middle part of the table.

Greenwood's winding road: Banished by United, courted by Atleti

Manchester United outcast Mason Greenwood has been going places in recent weeks, almost singlehandedly pushing Getafe to eighth position. Along with another former Red Devil, Juan Mata, Greenwood is making a massive impact and is expected to start the Rayo tie that could push the deep blues near that Europa Conference League spot.

Finally, in the battle between once-giants Valencia and Villarreal, we're about to witness a genuine mid-table derby that promises anything but a wild outcome. The worst La Liga offence (Valencia have scored only 19 goals in 18 rounds) faces the second-worst defence (Villarreal have conceded 35).

Both stranded on a shore of mediocracy, the two will probably settle with a goalless draw or something similar to continue their low-profile La Liga life, far from the spotlights we were used to seeing them for years.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 19

Tuesday

19.00: (2.50) Getafe (3.05) Rayo Vallecano (3.10)

21.15: (1.57) Sociedad (3.70) Alaves (7.00)

23.30: (2.35) Valencia (3.45) Villareal (3.20)

Wednesday

19.00: (2.35) Granada (3.30) Cadiz (3.40)

21.15: (2.50) Celta (3.40) Betis (3.00)

21.15: (1.25) Real Madrid (5.70) Mallorca (13.0)

23.30: (2.60) Girona (3.50) Atl.Madrid (2.85)

Thursday

19.00: (1.75) Osasuna (3.70) Almeria (5.40)

21.15: (3.20) Sevilla (3.45) Ath.Bilbao (2.35)

23.30: (6.00) Las Palmas (4.00) Barcelona (1.57)

***odds are subject to change***