Valencia CF vs Barcelona Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Nov 30, 2015 @ 02:48 am

Next Saturday, 5th of December 2015, the current Spanish champions, Barcelona, will travel to the Comunidad Valenciana to measure forces with a fragilized Valencia at Mestalla for Round 14 of the Liga BBVA.

Four consecutive league matches without conceding a single goal and another 4-0 win, this time over Real Sociedad, are the living proof that Barcelona are finally back on track. The Catalan team didn’t experience any major difficulty in overcoming Real Sociedad at Camp Nou last Saturday with their attacking trio dictating the pass of match and netting all the four goals. Two from Neymar, one from Luis Suárez and another one from Lionel Messi, who has only recently returned from a long a term injury, shredded to pieces Eusebio Sacristan’s plans to leave the Catalunya with a positive result. The former head coach of Barcelona’s farm team knows Luis Enrique and the club very well, but the strategy he prepared was outclassed by Barça fluid style of play and for the excellent moment of form from Neymar and Luis Suárez.

Barcelona won their last six competitive matches and have only conceded a single goal over that period. The team appears to be extremely confident both in their defensive sector and in the midfield line, but the secret behind this recent success lays up front, where Neymar and Suárez managed to compensate the long absence from Lionel Messi.

For next weekend’s usually complicated travel to Mestalla, Barcelona’s head coach, Luis Enrique, will still not be able to rely on Rafinha’s contribution, who remains sidelined with a long term injury. The talented Spanish midfielder Sergi Roberto is still recovering from his injury and he is still in doubt for next weekend’s clash.

Before the Mestalla match, Barcelona will play against the third tier side CF Villanovense for the second-leg of the Copa del Rey 1/16 finals. The Catalan team failed to get anything better than a goalless draw from the first-leg match later in October.

As for Valencia, things haven’t been easy for the Comunidad Valenciana team who were defeated for the fourth time this season in their last outing and are currently without a head coach, after Nuno Espirito Santo parted ways with the club after the Andalusia’s match.

The Portuguese manager, who reportedly decided to leave the club even before last Sunday’s match against Sevilla, was, at least according to Dani Parejo, at a dead end and understood that he wasn’t able to cope with the current strenuous situation anymore.

Phil Neville and Voro, Valencia’s assistant coaches, will lead the team over the week’s training sessions and will probably be in charge for the Copa del Rey match against Barakaldo next Wednesday.

Valencia

Stats: W-1 L-3 D-1

Recent Form - LLDWL

Barcelona

Stats: W-5 L-0 D-0

Recent Form - WWWWW

Possible Line-ups

Valencia (4-3-3) – Ryan - Aderlan - Mustafi - Abdennour - Gaya - Enzo Pérez - André Gomes - Dani Parejo - Feghouli - Mina - Paco Alcácer

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

Injury List / Suspended Players

Valencia - Diego Alves (inj) - Mustafi (inj) - Piatti (inj) - Moreno (inj) André Gomes (in doubt) Cancelo (sus) - Javi Fuego (sus)

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

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions