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Published on Dec, 06 2024
Barcelona can register a second consecutive win and stretch their provisional lead at the summit of La Liga against Real Betis on Saturday. Hansi Flick's men lead the way in the Spanish topflight by four points, despite Real Madrid having a game in hand. This weekend's hosts in Seville ae midtable with 20 points from a possible 45 so far.
Manuel Pellegrini's men beat Sant Andreu 3-1 in midweek to reach the third round of the Copa del Rey, but they are on a two-game losing streak in La Liga, having gone down to both Valencia and Real Sociedad. Los Verdiblancos are also in difficulty in the UEFA Conference League with four points from four games to languish down in 22nd spot. After a seventh position finish last year, Europe is expected of Betis but inconsistent form is proving problematic so far.
Barca blasted back into form with a 5-1 thrashing of Mallorca in midweek with Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor all scoring. The Blaugrana have the strongest away record in La Liga with 22 points from 10 games on the road, but Betis have lost just once in front of their own fans this term. Barca's six-game winning run against Los Beticos across all competitions is impressive, but not losing in Seville to Betis since 2008 is even more remarkable.
Betis have five wins, five draws and five losses from 15 so far this season, with 20 points placing them 10th in the standings. Mallorca in sixth are four points ahead and Pellegrini's men have only scored 16 times in 15 games, while conceding just 18 which is fairly respectable. Barca recovered from their shock loss to Las Palmas to beat Mallorca comfortably and the Catalan giants are now on 37 points from 16 games, which places them four points clear of Real Madrid who do have a game in hand. The 12 wins, one draw and three losses has been carried by a rampant attack which boasts 48 goals, which is by far the best in La Liga.
Betis: Vitor Roque can face his parent club and has scored five times so far while Pablo Fornals should be fit in time. However, Johnny Cardoso, Nobel Mendy, Hector Bellerin, Marc Roca, William Carvalho and Isco are all out but ex-Barca man Abde Ezzalzouli should be recalled.
Possible Betis XI: Silva; Sabaly, Bartra, Llorente, Perraud; Guirao, Altimira; Fornals, Lo Celso, Ezzalzouli; Roque.
Barca: Ansu Fati, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo are all out but Robert Lewandowski should return after being rested with Ferran Torres set to drop out. De Jong, Gavi and Fermin Lopez could form the midfield but Alejandro Balde should continue at left-back.
Possible Barca XI: Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, I Martinez, Balde; Pedri, Casado; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
Expect Barca to score a couple and Betis could make it interesting with a goal of their own but this should be a narrow win for the visitors with a draw not unrealistic for the hosts to target. Pick: Betis 1, Barca 2.
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