The La Liga campaign has been an interesting one to say the least. The likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid haven’t hit top gear yet leaving interesting showing for the table.

Sevilla

In many ways Sevilla are still in transition. A new manager in Jorge Sampaoli, his tactics and style will no doubt take a while to settle at Seville. New players have also been brought as part of a strong performance in the transfer market. Samir Nasri, Wissam Ben Yedder, Ganso and Luciano Vietto definitely make Sevilla a very strong team. Sampaoli is also a very talented manager leading Chile to a Copa America triumph and his presence will be felt in training sessions.

Sevilla have been scrappy so far grinding out results apart from a loss to Bilbao. This however will change as the players and manager develop a closer relationship. A decent Champions League performance should also be expected albeit a difficult group. 

Las Palmas

Las Palmas are not a well known club. They performed decently well last season staying in the top flight. The team from the Canary Islands have impressed this term sitting at 7th place and could be the underdogs for a European spot. Kevin Prince Boateng has been a high profile capture for Las Palmas and brings experience to the team. Fighting spirit is what categorizes Las Palmas as seen in a 2-2 draw with Osasuna. 

Las Palmas were briefly top for the first time in 38 years, beat Valencia and drew with Madrid indicating that they aren’t pushovers.

Villarreal

Villarreal are an odd team to say the least. Usually mid table finishers, there is possibly the expectation of improvement. Having said that, Villarreal haven’t lost in the league yet and have been impressive even after the departures of Eric Bailly and Denis Suarez. With Roberto Soldado out with a knee injury for 6 months, the focus shifts on Alexandre Pato.

The Brazilian arrived from Corinthians in the summer and has been impressive. If he can maintain fitness, he could very well recapture the flair he once showed at AC Milan. Villarreal are impressive in the fact that they work as a team. Cohesive and possessing a good understanding, they are difficult to play against and can pull off results against bigger teams like Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Valencia

Valencia have been a mess since Peter Lim took over. 6 coaches later, Cesare Prandelli finds himself with a huge task at hand. Departures of talisman Paco Alcacer, winger Sofiane Feghouli, center back Shkodran Mustafi  and Andre Gomes have left Valencia reeling Languishing at 18th, Valencia should not be in question for relegation but much much more is expected of them.

Defensive strength should be a priority as Ezequiel Garay, Eliaquim Mangala and Aymen Abdennour compete for the center half positions. In attack, Valencia actually do posses quite a few talented players. Zakaria Bakkali and Munir Haddadi are both young while Nani brings flair and style to the team. Valencia’s priority should be to ensure Prandelli settles in quickly to halt the slide and regain form.

Will there be a fourth competitor for La Liga crown?

In recent years, Atletico Madrid has established itself among the best and converted the La Liga title race from a two-horse race to a legitimate triple threat. However, no other team has been able to compete against the financial prowess, squad-depth or the talents available at disposal of these top clubs. At least, not yet. These teams have shown early form, but the real question remains, whether they have the resources to fight till the end of the campaign?