Barcelona v Malaga Betting Preview – La Liga 21st October 7.45pm
This is top v bottom in the Spanish top flight on the weekend as Barcelona will look to return to winning ways. They played out a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid last weekend, thanks to a late equaliser by Luis Suarez. They should have an easier time of things though at home this weekend as they face Malaga who have only managed the one point in total in their campaign so far. This may be a pretty lopsided affair.
Barcelona v Malaga Betting Tips
Barcelona played out a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in their last league game, that was the first dropped points form them this season on the domestic front. But they are unbeaten this season having won each of their other seven league games this season and they will have plenty of backing to win this as they face Malaga who are rock bottom of the pile. Barcelona have won all four of their home games this season in La Liga, scoring a total of sixteen goals as well, while conceding just the one. So that’s an average of four goals per home game and 75% of their home fixtures have gone over 2.5 goals as you would expect. 50% of them have gone over 3.5 goals however, under 3.5 at 13/8 with bet365 looks the bigger value looking at the recent history between these two. While it should be a routine win, it may not be a big one.
That’s because they have had some struggles against Malaga, notably last season when Barcelona only took a point from their two games against them, not scoring in either. In the last six league meetings, Barcelona are only W2 D2 L2 against Malaga. Surprisingly they have failed to score in four of their last six against them, so they have become something of a bogey team for the Catalans. However, Barcelona are going strongly at the moment and Lionel Messi is the 6/4 bet first goalscorer favourite. But the recent head to head suggests a more conservative option of a Barcelona 3-0 correct score at bet365 for a price of 13/2, with a 2-0 win for them coming in at 8/1 could be the way to go go.
You can cover the lot with Barcelona to win to nil at 8/11. Malaga are nine points worse off than they were at this stage last season. It’s been shockingly bad from them as they have picked up only the one point in their eight league games which was in a 3-3 draw with Athletic Bilbao at home. That game accounted for three of their four league goals they have scored all season, with Malaga having failed to score six of their eight league games this season. Away from home they are without a point and without a goal. Malaga have conceded a total of eighteen goals at an average of just over two per games, so while that’s bad, they haven’t really taken a hammering and only lost 1-0 at Atletico Madrid and 2-0 at Sevilla. So while they aren’t likely going to even get close to winning this game, they may at least be able to keep the scoreline somewhat respectable.
Barcelona v Malaga Betting Odds
Barcelona 1/14, Draw 12/1, Malaga 25/1
Barcelona v Malaga Predictions
Barcelona to win: It would be a massive surprise if the Catalans didn’t take a victory in this one and it should be by a comfortable margin as well. Look for the home side to win to nil but there is some value around the Barcelona 3-0 correct score mark.
