The first El Clasico of the 2018/19 season is here and plenty of punters will be expecting Barcelona to prevail on home soil.
Currently sitting pretty at the top of La Liga, and already four points clear of their arch rivals, Barca will have to cope without Lionel Messi after the Argentina man was ruled out for around a month with an arm injury.
Real Madrid have failed to inspire confidence during the early stages of the campaign and they will also have to cope without Cristiano Ronaldo, a former star of this fixture.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is now plying his trade with Juventus over in Serie A and it would be fair to suggest that Real haven’t been the same attacking force since his departure.
The 10/11 available for Barcelona to win represents excellent value given the contrast in fortunes at the beginning of the campaign. Julen Lopetegui is looking a little out of his depth and a heavy defeat here could signal the end of his brief tenure at Santiago Bernabeu.
On the other hand you have Ernesto Valverde, who has captured the Barcelona philosophy completely. Winning trophies whilst abiding by Barcelona’s “total football” style of play is an absolute must in order to succeed at Camp Nou.
Incredibly, this will be the first El Clasico without both Messi and Ronaldo since 2007. Will that have an adverse effect on the game as a spectacle? In a word, no. Barcelona vs Real Betis was fun to watch but El Clasico will be on another level.
El Clasico a special occasion and fans from all over the world will be tuning in to see who comes out on top on Sunday afternoon. There will be millions of football supporters on both sides of the coin but only one team can emerge victorious.
Reading too much into previous results would be foolish given the absences of Messi and Ronaldo but Barcelona will take confidence from their results in this fixture last season.
La Blaugrana picked up four points from their two league games with Real in 2017/18 and most punters will expect Barcelona to secure a positive result here. Madrid backers may be tempted by the 22/25 on offer for the visitors to draw or win.
On paper, these two teams are quite evenly matched but Barca’s attacking record is much better than Real’s. The final third is where this game will be won or lost and it is easier to put faith in Barcelona’s 23 goals in nine matches than Real’s 13 goals in the same period.
With that in mind, taking the 4/6 for over 1.5 Barcelona goals could be the way to go. There is always a chance of a red card in this fixture and a sending off for Madrid could prove fatal – 9/5 for a sending off isn’t much of a price though.
I like Barcelona’s chances this weekend and the hosts could send out a statement of intent with a dominant performance. Even without Messi, Barca are blessed with quality in the final third and Valverde’s men could run riot.
With that in mind, the 5/2 for Barcelona to win by two or more goals comes into play. There is so much uncertainty surrounding Real at this moment in time and this could get ugly for the visitors if Barca get into their rhythm in the early exchanges.
TIP: Barcelona to win by two or more goals @ 5/2
PREDICTED SCORE: Barcelona 2-0 Real Madrid (Priced at 10/1 with 888sport)
*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*
