Espanyol Vs Barcelona
Espanyol Vs Barcelona Sunday 13 February, 2022 – 20:00 (GMT)
Spanish La Liga
Pick: Both Teams to Score
Odds: 8/11
Bookmaker: WilliamHill
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 11 February 2022)
Preview: Sunday’s La Liga action concludes at RCDE Stadium with El derbi Barceloni. Not since 2009 has Espanyol celebrated victory against their more illustrious neighbours, with Barcelona 1-0 victors when the sides met earlier this season. Will it be more derby delight for Xavi and Barca?
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Table of Contents
Espanyol – Goals at both ends the norm?
It has been a decent showing so far in 2021-22 from an Espanyol side back in La Liga after a brief spell in Spain’s Segunda Division. While they are by no means assured of another term at this level, a nine point cushion back to the relegation places suggests Vincente Moreno is firmly on track to deliver on the club’s main objective for the season. Although a slow start to life in 2022 could yet undermine those efforts.
The ‘Parakeets’ are still searching for their first win since the turn of the year, collecting one point from four outings. This despite opening the scoring in all of the last three encounters, finding the net inside the first 15 minutes each time. More recently it was Athletic Bilbao clawing back an early deficit and denying Moreno’s men a result, a seventh successive Espanyol match to witness a gluttony of goals (Over 2.5/BTTS).
Key Stat: Espanyol boast the ninth best home record in La Liga in 2021-22, with their tally of six wins (D2 L3) twice that of Barcelona away. Scoring 1+ in each of the last ten La Liga matches at RCDE Stadium.
Barcelona – Gradually coming together under Xavi?
For a club that has got an awfully lot wrong in recent times, the decision to replace one club legend with another is already producing the desired results. Since appointing former midfield maestro Xavi as manager on 20 November, Barcelona have won six of ten league games – the first of those was actually against Espanyol, a 1-0 win at Camp Nou – culminating in last week’s thrilling 4-2 home win over Atletico Madrid.
That was enough to lift La Blaugrana above Diego Simeone’s charges into fourth, so it was a huge victory psychologically more than anything else. It also halted a four-game sequence scoring exactly once, and it was no coincidence that the new signings – Adama Traore and Dani Alves in particular – were at the forefront. Unfortunately, though, the latter must sit out Sunday’s derby after seeing red last time out.
Key Stat: Victory over Atletico Madrid in the previous round extended the unbeaten run of Barcelona in La Liga to seven matches (W4 D3); they are yet to taste defeat away from home under Xavi (W3 D3, GF9 GA5).
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Espanyol Vs Barcelona Betting Advice
All the momentum coming into Sunday belongs to the visitors, who did also emerge from the reverse fixture as slender victors. A 1-0 win at RCDE Stadium in November represented Xavi’s first win as Barca manager in his first game in charge. Since then his team have won a further five times in nine league games (D3 L1), scoring 16 – but only more than once on four occasions – and shipping 11.
Espanyol vs Barcelona – Key Facts:
- Although it has been more than a decade since Espanyol last defeated Barcelona in La Liga, the Parakeets are unbeaten as hosts in two of the past three renewals at RCDE Stadium.
- The last time these teams met at this ground was for a 2-2 draw in January 2020. With Espanyol’s last seven La Liga games producing Over 2.5 Goals as well as Both Teams to Score, we could be in for a repeat scoreline.
- Especially as four of six Barcelona away league games under new manager Xavi saw them score but also concede – though they are still unbeaten on their travels (W3 D3).
Results-wise, it has been promising under Xavi. However, all but two Barca games during his embryonic tenure have either ended in a draw or been settled by the solitary goal. Meanwhile their last four away saw just six goals combined (W2 D2). Sunday could be another tight scoreline then, especially with Espaynol being so strong at RCDE Stadium thus far, scoring at least once in their past ten La Liga home games.
Best Betting Odds – Espanyol Vs Barcelona
Espanyol – 4/1 (WilliamHill)
Draw – 3/1 (BetFred)
Barcelona – 3/4 (Bet365)
