Valencia vs Barcelona Clash: Who Will Win?

The Host’s Form

Valencia suffered defeat in the last round, losing despite opening the scoring for the first time this La Liga season when the Orange lost to high-flying Girona (1-2).

Despite picking up just one point from La Liga’s last three games, head coach Baraja insists his side are still “doing everything right.”

More will likely have to be done in subsequent matches to maintain a position in the top half throughout December, especially against clubs who are above them on the table.

Barcelona’s mixed results away from home against clubs below them and inconsistent form, at least offer some ray of hope for Valencia. Stay tuned to the club’s game predictions at the Rating Bet site.

As for the team’s play, according to an interesting tradition, for some reason, Valencia prefers open football to any other style of football this season and this is visible in Valencia’s games with lots of goals being scored in their matches.

The game against formidable Real Madrid 1:5, the high-flying Girona 1:2, the inconsistent Sevilla 2:1, Athletic Bilbao 2:2, and Almeria 2:2.  In general, Ruben Baraja’s team has been scoring and conceding lots of goals this season.

Barcelona’s Form

Who would have thought that after 16 rounds of the Spanish La Liga games, Barcelona would be languishing in 4th position.

Even if they win, Xavi’s men will still be four points behind league leaders Girona in the table. In this confrontation, the “blue garnets” are, of course, favorites. But lately, they don’t look confident. Yes, the victory over Atletico was good but all that was erased by the devastating loss to Girona at home. 

What does this mean? Moreover, the guests will score in this meeting. But they will most likely concede as well. Even in the recent match against modest Alaves, Xavi’s squad could not win cleanly (2-1).

Prediction

Choosing between a Barcelona victory and “both team to score” for practically the same odds, I choose the second option. Yes, Xavi’s team, whatever one may say, are the favorites to win the match and might likely win as expected.

However, recent performances suggest that Barca has a very weak defence and will likely concede. Valencia managed to score only once in 180 minutes last season and will try to do everything better this time around.

Barca’s defense is far from ideal, and the “white-red” themselves are now scoring against everyone. But the hosts are unlikely to be left without a single effective strike.

Barcelona needs to start winning consistently to keep up with the leader at the top of the table. Well, as you know, victories require goals. The prediction is “Both team to score”.