Barcelona and Valencia will do battle for the Copa Del Rey crown at Real Betis’ Estadio Benito Villamarin on Saturday night and bookmakers are favouring the La Liga champions ahead of this contest. 8/13 for a Barcelona win is a good price.
La Blaugrana have an excellent record in this fixture, losing just one of their last 19 games against Valencia. With that in mind, punters may wish to consider backing Barcelona to win this one quite comfortably. Ernesto Valverde’s men are 13/8 to win by two or more goals.
The majestic Lionel Messi will obviously carry the weight of expectation – as he always does whenever he is on the pitch. 7/10 for Messi to get his name on the scoresheet isn’t the best bet in the world but he makes this Barcelona side tick and he could shine.
However, it isn’t just about Messi. Ousmane Dembele has been simply sublime too and his link-up play with the Barcelona talisman could be decisive. Dembele will relish his chance to shine on the big stage and 7/4 for the Frenchman to score is an excellent price.
Barcelona are both ruthless and relentless in equal measure – the Spanish giants will try to strangle Valencia from start to finish. The 11/20 for Barca to score in the first half is short though, especially given how this game is likely to pan out.
Valencia fell short in their Europa League semi-final clash with Arsenal and supporters will be hoping that lightning doesn’t strike twice. At 4/1 to win inside 90 minutes, Valencia are at a backable price given the attacking talent in their squad.
Incredibly, Valencia finished the 2018/19 La Liga campaign with a better defensive record than Barcelona. Only Atletico Madrid (29) conceded fewer goals than Valencia (35) this season and that may be why Barca are out at 15/8 to score three or more goals on Saturday night.
Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men will want to keep this one tight in the early exchanges and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a goalless first half. Under 0.5 goals in the first half is a gift of a price at 13/5 while under 1.5 goals (8/15) in the same period is also tempting.
Barcelona are one of the strongest teams in world football and the La Liga champions can end 2018/19 with another trophy. The disappointment of that Champions League defeat to Liverpool is hanging over Camp Nou but La Blaugrana can go some way to making amends here.
If Messi gets his own way and dictates proceedings, things could get ugly for Valencia. This has all the makings of an ‘attack vs defence’ encounter and the onus will be on Barcelona to break their opponents down. It may take some time but Barca’s class should tell.
Everything points towards a Barcelona victory here. Their domestic record this season has been phenomenal and another trophy awaits. Valencia could see chances fall their way but do they have the quality to push Barcelona to the end? Possibly not.
TIP: Barcelona to win @ 8/13
LONGSHOT: Barcelona to win and both teams to score (41/20 with 888sport)
PREDICTED SCORE: Barcelona 3-1 Valencia (10/1 with 888sport)
*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*
