FC Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Oct 13, 2015 @ 12:13 am

Next Saturday, 17th of October 2015, the current Spanish and European champions Barcelona will go head-to-head with Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou for Round 8 of the Liga BBVA.

Two defeats in the last three league matches is certainly not the scenario Luis Enrique’s men were hoping for so early on in La Liga. The absence of Lionel Messi and the recent disheartened game style keep causing some major upsets to Barcelona at the Spanish league. After being severely hammered at Los Balaídos by a highly synchronized Celta de Vigo, the Catalan team succumbed once again, this time at the expenses of the UEFA Europa League holders, Sevilla, just before the international break.

Barcelona had an apparent control of large periods of the match, with 63% of ball possession percentage, 28 goal attempts and 21 free kicks, but in the end that was not to be enough for them to secure the three points. Right after the break, in just six minutes, Barcelona allowed Sevilla to score twice and, from that moment onwards, things started to deteriorate for them. The Brazilian flamboyant forward, Neymar, pulled one back from the penalty spot, but Barça failed to grab the equalizer and conceded their second defeat of the season in just seven matches.

Rafinha, Messi, Iniesta and Vermaelen remain sidelined because of injury and will most certainly not be part of Luis Enrique’s plans for the upcoming fixture against Rayo Vallecano.

As for the team from the outskirts of Madrid, Rayo Vallecano are also not going through the best of moments as they’ve lost two of their last three league matches. Before the international break, Paco Jemez’s men were surprised at home by the newcomers Real Betis, thus conceding their fourth defeat in seven La Liga matches so far.

The departure of Alberto Bueno to FC Porto last Summer left an empty front and not even the recent good performances from Javi Guerra, who arrived from Cardiff this season, has been enough to compensate Rayo’s problems in the last third of the pitch.

David Cobeno and Pablo Hernandez are in doubt for next weekend’s visit to Camp Nou, since they are still recovering from their respective injuries.

Barcelona

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-0

Recent Form - LWWLW

Rayo Vallecano

Stats: W-2 L-3 D-0

Recent Form - LLWWL

Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Bravo - Alves - Pique - Mathieu - Jordi Alba - Busquets - Rakitic - Mascherano - Neymar - Suarez - El Haddadi

Rayo Vallecano (4-2-3-1) - Tono - Martínez - Zé Castro - Llorente - Rat - Baena - Trashorras - Embarba - Bebé - Jozabed - Guerra

Injury List / Suspended Players

Barcelona - Rafinha (inj) - Messi (inj) - Vermaelen (inj) - Iniesta (inj)

Rayo Vallecano - David Cobeno (inj) - Pablo Hernandez (inj)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions