Ace Football previews the La Liga match between Alaves and FC Barcelona, and offers the latest betting tips, odds, line-ups, and team news.
FC Barcelona head to the Mendizorroza Stadium on Saturday night for a LaLiga clash against Deportivo Alaves, intent on returning to winning ways.
The visitors are in desperate need of all three points in the Basque Country, but should expect a tough game all the same. After all, they’re level on points with Alaves in the lower half of the league table. So who’s to say victory is guaranteed?
But a morale-boosting win at Juventus, on top of last season’s final day 5-0 thrashing away to Alaves, leaves the Blaugrana in good shape for the encounter.
Alaves Form & Stats
Pablo Machin has overseen a relatively underwhelming start in charge of Alaves, losing four of his opening seven games. It’s left them a mere two points above the relegation zone in 15th; albeit one place higher than the club finished last season.
Things may be on the up, though, as the Babazorros have won two of their last three games. Last weekend’s 2-0 win against relegation rivals Real Valladolid was particularly impressive.
But how Alaves will fare against Barcelona is another story. They may have home advantage, but the visitors have won all their last seven meetings and won 5-0 at the same venue back in July. Then again, Machin’s tactics seem to be hitting home at a very timely moment.
Key Team Stats
- Won two of their last three league games.
- Failed to score in seven of their last eight home league games.
- Under 2.5 goals in nine of their last 10 home league games.
FC Barcelona Form & Stats
Seven points from five games have left Barcelona down in 12th-place and already seven adrift of LaLiga leaders Real Sociedad in the standings. However, they do have two games in hand. So not all is lost yet.
A strong 2-0 win in their midweek visit to Juventus in the Champions League would’ve served as a confidence-boosting moment for the entire squad. Now it’s about carrying that momentum back over to the Mendizorroza.
Victory is a must for the Catalan giants, who lost their previous league game 3-1 to Real Madrid. They’ve now gone three games without a win, and the pressure is slowly beginning to creep in on Ronald Koeman. With a new president incoming, the Dutchman needs a string of positive results sooner rather than later if he’s to remain as head coach next season.
Although there are quite a few positives on Koeman’s side with Gerard Pique back in the squad from suspension and Ousmane Dembele delivering a convincing performance against Juventus.
Key Team Stats
- Ansu Fati has scored four goals in five league games.
- Won their last eight games against Alaves in all competitions.
- Kept a clean sheet in their last eight games against Alaves in all competitions.
Team News
Alaves: Pere Pons & Rodrigo Ely (both doubts)
FC Barcelona: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo, Riqui Puig, Matheus Fernandes (out)
Predicted Line-ups
Alaves (3-5-2): Pacheco; Lejeune, Navarro, Laguardia; Mendez, Jota, Battaglia, Pina, Duarte; Joselu, Perez.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Neto; Dest, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, De Jong; Dembele, Trincao, Fati; Messi.
Head-To-Head Record
Alaves have only claimed one win in 14 games against Barcelona, meaning they’ll need draw something special out of the bag to claim a victory on Saturday night.
The previous encounter between these two sides ended in a 5-0 victory for the Blaugrana, with Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati on target.
Players To Watch
Betting Tips
Barcelona To Win – 1.47 (Novibet)
The Catalans won both halves against Alaves last season and arrive on the back of an excellent 2-0 win away to Juventus. Recent result may not have favored in LaLiga recently, but they should do well at the Mendizorroza Stadium.
Novibet on Oddschecker has them tipped at 1.47 to win.
Under 3.5 goals – 1.5 (Betfair)
Alaves have only scored at home once in five league games this season, losing four times and winning just once. Barcelona, meanwhile, have won to nil in four of their previous four meetings.
Betfair on Oddschecker has the game priced at odds of 1.5 for Under 3.5 goals.
Anytime Goalscorer – Ansu Fati (2.5 on SpreadEX)
Fati, who celebrates his 18th birthday today, leads the Barcelona scoring charts for this season on four goals in five games. He was also on target in last weekend’s Clasico defeat to arch-rivals Real Madrid.
SpreadEX on Oddschecker has Fati priced at odds of 2.5 to score at anytime during the match.
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