Barcelona vs Real Betis Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Dec 28, 2015 @ 01:58 am

Next Wednesday, 30th of December 2015, the current World and European champions, Barcelona, will take on Real Bétis at Camp Nou for Round 17 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

Barcelona displayed their power once again by winning FIFA Club World Cup after defeating the Argentinean historical team River Plate on the final that took place on the 20th of December. Barça’s dynamic duo, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, put up another excellent performance and reduced the Argentinean side’s hopes of winning the title to dust. After three consecutive draws for competitive matches, Barcelona ahve returned to wins in big style and won the FIFA Club World Cup for the third time in their history. Despite such fantastic win, Barcelona’s last two matches at La Liga were far from impressive. After a 1-1 draw at Mestalla against Valencia, Barça were surprised at home by a mighty Deportivo de La Coruña and ended up by conceding their second draw of the season against the Galician team. Luis Enrique’s men were winning 2-0 on minute 62’, but an array of defensive mistakes allowed Depor not only to get back in the game but also to claw an important draw at Camp Nou.

Barcelona have currently one game in hand, due to their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup, and their upcoming match against Real Bétis is of the utmost importance if they want they maintain their place at the top of La Liga’s table. For that particular match, Luis Enrique will not be able to rely on the services of Rafinha, who remains sidelined due to a long term injury.

As for Real Bétis, the La Liga newcomers have only won once in their last five league matches and they are currently in the 11th place of table with 20 points from 16 matches. After a spectacular draw at El Mólinon against Sporting de Gijón that granted them a place in the next stage of the Copa del Rey, Real Bétis were held to a draw by their neighbours and all time rivals of Sevilla last time out. The Andalusia derby was an extremely vivid clash, but ended in a goalless draw with the referee showing no more no less than 12 yellow cards throughout the match.

For next Wednesday’s extremely complicated travel to Camp Nou, Pepe Mel will have the players at his disposal after Piccini and Matilla have returned to the training sessions last week.

Barcelona

Stats: W-2 L-0 D-3

Recent Form - WWDDD

Real Betis

Stats: W-1 L-1 D-3

Recent Form - DDLDW

Possible Line-ups

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

Real Betis (4-2-3-1) – Adan - Molinero - Cabrera - Westermann - Vargas - N’Diaye - Petros - Cejudo - Ceballos - Joaquin - Ruben Castro

Injury List / Suspended Players

Barcelona - Rafinha (inj)

Real Betis - None

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions