For all of their troubles in the offseason with Barcelona, like losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, they’ve managed to pick up six points from two games, which is two more than Real Madrid Barcelona will resume their action on La Liga on Saturday as they host Espanyol, who are in 13th place.
What To Know About Espanyol
Espanyol drew at Sevilla and then lost at home to Leganes, and they have scored just one goal in their two games, which is a recipe for disaster. That goal was scored by Leo Baptistao in the Sevilla draw, but that just isn’t going to cut it if Espanyol is going to have a successful season. Gerard has yet to get on the scoresheet and after scoring 13 goals in La Liga for Espanyol last season, he might be their best bet, and they still need more. They should have a solid defense, if nothing else, but Espanyol has to find goals if they want to get into the top half of the table.
What To Know About Barcelona
Ousmane Dembele could make his debut for Barcelona after being bought from Borussia Dortmund as they look to replace Neymar, or at least fill some of the void left by the Brazilian star. That should take some of the pressure off Lionel Messi, who has scored two of Barcelona’s three goals so far in the league. What is more, is that Messi has 20 shots with seven on target to start the season, and while it can’t be that bad to have arguably the best player in the world shooting the ball all the time, it takes away some of Messi’s abilty to be a playmaker. Luis Suarez is on his way back from a knee injury, which would be a massive help as Messi is simply trying to do too much to keep Barcelona at the top of the league, but he really doesn’t have much of a choice.
Outlook
Barcelona is a huge -1.16 favorite to win this match at home, while Espanyol is listed at +1500 and a draw comes in at +7.50. Espanyol hasn’t beaten Barcelona in 18 matches, or since February 2009, when they won 2-1 at Barcelona. Since then, Barcelona has won 15 and drawn three against Espanyol, who allowed seven goals and scored just one last season in two games against Barca.
In truth, Espanyol might be simply trying to limit the damage because even though Barcelona still have a lot of questions to be answered, they’re still miles better than their opponents. Espanyol’s best bet will be to try and shut Messi down because if you can do that, you have a chance against Barcelona. The problem is that better teams haven’t been able to do it and all Messi needs is a moment, and then once one goal is scored, the floodgates could open wide. Also, if Dembele makes his debut, he’ll want to put on a show for the home fans and he has been excellent for Borussia Dortmund in the past.
La Liga Betting Pick: Barcelona
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