✅⚽Barcelona vs Espanyol
⏰La Liga, KO: 15:15 Nov 3, 2024, Nou Camp
Barcelona go head-to-head against Espanyol on Sunday. Read our Predictions and Betting Tips with Match Preview, Head-to-head stats (h2h) and Team Form Analysis.
Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Sparkles will be flying when Barcelona and Espanyol lock horns at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in the Catalan derby. Barca have been flying high under new boss Hansi Flick and you should know that they are on a five-game winning run in all competitions. Given their excellent display in “El Clasico”, where they hammered Real Madrid 4-0, there is a big value in betting on Lamine Yamal and Co. Both Dani Olmo and Frenkie de Jong are pushing for a start, while the likes of Ferran Torres, Marc Bernal, Andreas Christensen, and Ronald Araujo remain in the recovery room.
Los Periquitos, on the other hand, head into the Derbi Barceloni following back-to-back defeats to Athletic Club (1-4) and Sevilla (0-2) and given their poor away record (0-1-4) in the new La Liga campaign, anything but a routine home win would be a big surprise. There are no fresh injury worries in the away team ahead of the local derby.
How the bookies view it: Nothing less than a Barca win expected
Barcelona are as much as 1/14 favourites to win this match at some 777pub bookmakers, but are slightly better priced at 1/8 with Peso63. Still, that is overwhelming favouritism for Barca in this Catalan derby, as they seek their fourth win in a row in current La Liga form. With Espanyol hovering just above the drop zone, their 20/1 underdog quote speaks volumes about their chances of banking three points on the weekend.
Players to watch: Lewandowski to keep on scoring?
Robert Lewandowski leads the La Liga goalscoring charts by a considerable distance this season. He’s already up to 14 goals in just eleven league appearances and has benefited from head coach Hansi Flick’s attack-minded style. Lewandowski is on a five-match scoring streak in all competitions and has only failed to score in one of his last eight, so he’s an obvious pick for goalscorer options in Barcelona vs Espanyol.
Espanyol don’t have anything that comes close to that kind of scoring power, with Javi Puado their top scorer with three goals in nine appearances. Look for Alejo Veliz though, who scored a hat trick in a midweek cup game, so he may get a run out.
Predicted Lineups
Barca have a few injury concerns with Ferran Torres, Andreas Christensen and Marc-Andre ter Stegen counted out, and they have a new problem for Eric Garcia who could be on the sidelines too. Espanyol will miss Fernando Calero and Edu Exposito through injury.
Barcelona: Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, I Martinez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Espanyol: Garcia; El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Olivan; Tejero, Kral, Gragera, Carreras; Puado, Veliz
Barcelona vs Espanyol Prediction
Barcelona’s spirits would have skyrocketed last Sunday as they destroyed their Arch-rivals Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu. That win extended Barca’s winning run to five games across all competitions. Their exceptional attacking side comprising the league top-scorer Lewandowski and the consistent Lamine Yamal is in perfect shape since the beginning.
On Sunday, they host Espanyol in the 12th round of Laliga match-ups. The guests have a disappointing form in the league of late as they lost five of their last six league outings. Their poor defensive line has leaked 14 goals in that period.
On top of that, Barcelona is having a 12-match unbeaten streak against Espanyol in the head-to-head. They have an eight-match unbeaten streak with hosting advantage and has defeated Espanyol six times in that period. By the looks of things, we expect Barca to pull off another motivating win on Sunday.
Barcelona’s home run is too good at the moment as they won the past six in a row. The team scored 24 goals in that period while allowing just 3. Their Polish striker Lewandowski has scored at least one each in all those six games and you can expect him to net his 15th goal of this season on Sunday.
On the other hand, Espanyol is on a dreadful run on the road. They follows an eight-match winless streak and lost the past three in a row. Do also note that they allowed 9 goals in the last three road trips while scoring two.
Since we have a strong Barca team in the hosting side, Espanyol is likely to end up goalless here. We expect Barcelona to net 4 unanswered goals as their last two wins saw them scoring goals in that trend. Another tip you can back is the home team to score over 3.5 goals and we have enough of reasons to lock that option. Look out for Lewandowski as he follows a tremendous form across all competitions of late.