Barcelona vs Deportivo Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Dec 10, 2015 @ 01:02 am

Next Saturday, 12th of December 2015, the current Spanish and European champions Barcelona will measure forces with Deportivo de La Coruña at the emblematic Camp Nou for Round 15 of the Liga BBVA.

The departure of Nuno Espirito Santo should have caused Valencia to feel fragilized, transforming them into easy prey for the all-powerful Barcelona, but such thing didn’t happen when both sides went head-to-head at Mestalla last weekend. The Catalan team were in control for large periods of the match and, after missing several clamorous goal chances, they opened the score early in the second-half by Luis Suárez. The versatile Uruguayan forward took advantage from an offside position and overcame Valencia’s goalkeeper, Jaume Domenech, who once again put up an excellent overall display. Barça had a staggering 71% of ball possession and had several good chances to score, but both Lionel Messi and Neymar were particularly uninspired last Saturday. In the last minutes of the match, Valencia tried their luck, first through a long range effort by Rodrigo De Paul and a few minutes later, after a sublime ball control by Paco Alcácer inside the box, Santi Mina clawed the equalizer.

It was Barcelona’s first draw of the season and probably one of the most lacklustre performances. The Catalan team now needs to make amends next weekend, when they host a highly motivated Deportivo de La Coruña at Camp Nou.

For that particular match, Luis Enrique, is still not sure if he will be able to rely on the contribution of Neymar, Mathieu and Sergi Roberto, who are recovering from minor injuries. Rafinha, on the other hand, is probably out for the season and for that reason he will miss out there.

As for Deportivo, after two consecutive league wins, the Galician team was held to a draw by Sevilla at Riazor last Saturday night. El Depor experienced some difficulty to sustain Sevilla’s attacking game, especially during the first-half, but thanks to Lucas Pérez perseverance, they have managed to open the score still early in the match. In the second-half, the Andalusia team piled on the pressure and ended up reaching the equalizer after a moment of total discoordination from Deportivo’s defensive line.

Victor Sanchez, who by the way is carrying out a fantastic job with Depor so far this season, will have face some issues to build his team’s midfield line next time out. Celso Borges is out due to a long term injury and Pedro Mosquera will also miss out there due to suspension. Two top class footballers that will, in a way, pinch Depor’s ambitions for next weekend’s fixture at Camp Nou.

Barcelona

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - DDWWW

Deportivo La Coruña

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - DWWWD

Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Bravo - Alves - Pique - Mascherano - Jordi Alba - Busquets - Rakitic - Iniesta - Neymar - Suarez - Messi

Deportivo La Coruña (4-4-1-1) – Lux - Juanfran - Arribas - Sidnei - Navarro - Bergantinos - Cani - Dominguez - Luisinho - Lucas Perez - Rodriguez

Injury List / Suspended Players

Barcelona - Rafinha (inj) - Sergi Roberto (in doubt) - Neymar (in doubt) - Mathieu (in doubt)

Deportivo La Coruña - Borges (inj) - Fabri (inj) - Oriol Riera (inj) - Jonas Gutierréz (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions