Barcelona vs Real Madrid – Match Preview and Betting Tips for El Clasico
Barcelona will be playing Real Madrid tonight at 19:00 GMT at Camp Nou for the first El Clasico of the season. Without a doubt one of the most anticipated matches, that gives you not only great football between two of Europe’s finest, but also the arguably two best players in the world with Ronaldo and Messi.
Read match preview below and receive betting tips and odds for El Clasico.
Match Preview
Barcelona started out slow this season at home, where they lost 0-2 against Hercules, played 1-1 against Mallorca. Since then they have defeated Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal in their previous three matches at Camp Nou. Arguably teams from the better half of the table, which will be playing for Champions League spots by the end of the season. In total Barcelona have won 11 games and only lost one this season in Primera Division, but their recent 8-0 win against Almeria and 3-0 win against Panathinaikos in Greece shows great form.
In addition Barcelona has no reported injuries for tonight’s clash at Camp Nou, and Guardiola can pick from a full squad. Currently they are expected to start Valdez on goal, Abidal, Puyol, Pique and Alves in the back, Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta in midfield and Villa, Messi and Pedro up front.
If Barcelona have had a great season so far, Real Madrid are having an amazing start with 32 points for 12 matches, zero defeats and a goal score of plus 27 goals. They have won their 7 most recent games and have managed to score incredible 27 goals in these matches. Last weekend they destroyed Atletico Bilbao and Tuesday Ajax in the Champions League, although playing with some reserve players in the former. All in all Real Madrid must be very confident before the El Clasico, which might be an understatement.
Like Barcelona they have no injuries either and Mourinho can pick from a full squad. Facts that can only make you look even more forward to this encounter between the Spanish giants. This said, Khedira and Higuain have not been training at strength the last couple of days, but will be ready for the match. Real Madrid is expected to start Casillas on Goal, Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho and Marcelo in the back, Xabi Alonso, Khedira and Özil in midfield and Di María, Higuain and Ronaldo up front.
Betting Tip for Barcelona vs Real Madrid
As expected Barcelona has been made the favorite for tonight’s encounter playing home at Camp Nou, but not by a big margin considering their home stats. In our opinion they should actually be bigger favorites, which might surprise some taking Real Madrid’s current form into account.
It is hard to argue against Real Madrid’s results, but despite doing a great job, Mourinho still has plenty of work to do. Firstly a big problem is the fact that they are a new team, which means they are still finding their playing style and have been relying on individual performances from their star players so far. In addition they have not yet played the best teams in Primera Division with the exception of Atletico, which mean they are still to be matched against stronger sides. It is also worth mentioning that Barcelona has won the last four encounters between the sides, with the two most recent ending 1-0 and 2-0.
This said it will be a very tight match between two teams in their best line-ups and Barcelona is certainly not a given winner. We have decided to back Barcelona though, as they are playing at home and have more homogeneous squad, who have proved itself in the El Clasico before.
Our betting tip will be Barcelona to win.
Match odds
All odds are at the time of writing and may change before kick off.