Totally Different Scenario
Midweek, Barcelona was eliminated from the UEFA Champions League Group Stage for the second consecutive season on Wednesday. Los Azulgranas simply couldn’t defeat Bayern Munich or Inter Milan.
Luckily for them, things in La Liga have been a bit different. They sit in second place, three points behind Real Madrid, and own the top defensive unit. That’s why, despite being emotionally beaten, they come in as the soccer betting favorites to defeat Valencia on Saturday. Los Che also lost in their last game, meaning they’re also determined to bounce back.
Let’s check the latest La Liga odds, stats, injury reports, and La Liga lines for Valencia vs Barcelona. We’ve plenty of La Liga betting odds for you to consider.
Valencia: Edinson Cavani Leading the Way
When Valencia signed Edison Cavani a couple of months ago, some called him a washed-up veteran. Well, he has proved them wrong by scoring four goals, enough to be the team’s top scorer in La Liga.
He even scored in their last match, but it wasn’t enough to get the victory. They played host to Mallorca and ended up losing 2-1. Cavani scored the opener from the penalty spot, but the visitors turned things around thanks to Vedat Muriqi, who also scored from the penalty spot, and Lee Kang-in.
Prior to that defeat, they managed to stay unbeaten for three straight home games, scoring 10 goals and allowing only three. No doubt about it, they’re better when playing at home.
Not playing any international competition gives Los Che a physical advantage. They’ll be well-rested in comparison to a team that recently faced one of the best clubs in the world. That’s why Valencia can be considered a tempting betting online underdog, especially at +450.
There’s also the fact that they’re in a must-win situation. Otherwise, they could fall out of the top 10.
Barcelona: Lewandowski Thriving
If Valencia has Cavani, Barcelona have Robert Lewandowski, who’s the league’s top scorer with 12 goals. There’s also Ousmane Dembele, who leads the team in assists with five. As if that wasn’t enough, there are also Pedri, Ansu Fati and Raphinha. In other words, when it comes to offense, Los Azulgranas have the talent to spare.
They haven’t had any trouble meeting expectations in La Liga as they’re the top-scoring team with 28 goals, the same as Real Madrid. Most recently, they crushed Athletic Bilbao 4-0. Besides Lewandowski and Dembele, Sergi Roberto and Ferran Torres also scored.
Things have been quite different at UCL. Midweek, they lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich at Camp Nou. That result condemned them to the UEFA Europa League. On the bright side, now they should be able to focus on winning La Liga.
Los Azulgranas are 4-0-1 when playing on the road. Their only defeat was against Real Madrid (3-1). They scored in all five matches and finished with a clean sheet three times. Overall, Los Azulgranas have allowed only four goals, meaning they only conceded in two of 11 games.
Summing up, despite being emotionally banged, they deserve to be in control of the Las Vegas odds at -170. In fact, considering all of the above, that’s also a really tempting deal.
Valencia vs Barcelona Head-to-Head
- Previous Matches: 203
- Valencia Victories: 55 (302 goals)
- Barcelona Victories: 97 (392 goals)
- Draws: 51
Last season, Barcelona had no mercy on Valencia and won both La Liga meetings between the two by a 7-2 aggregate. First, they came from behind to win 3-1 at Camp Nou with Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay, and Philippe Coutinho as the scorers. Later, they won 4-1 at Mestalla with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Man of the Match after scoring a hat trick.
If there’s something you can expect from these two, it’s goals. The total has gone over in seven of their last 10 encounters.
Valencia vs Barcelona Match Information
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 29
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Mestalla, Valencia
- Valencia vs Barcelona Live stream: fubo.tv
Valencia vs Barcelona Betting Lines
Valencia vs Barcelona Prediction
Valencia is a good team led by a very emotional manager in Gennaro Gattuso. Unfortunately for them, they’ll face a Barcelona team that’s hurt but also incredibly talented. Considering they’re eliminated from the UCL, Los Azulgranas don’t have to do any rotations toward next week’s game against Viktoria Plzen, meaning they can go all-in right from the start. Valencia will put up a good fight, enough for the total to go over, precisely our soccer prediction, but not enough to pull off the stunner.
Score Prediction: Barcelona 3, Valencia 1
“The odds and predictions in the article are based on time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.”
Valencia vs Barcelona Match Detail
