5 bold La Liga predictions: Barcelona bounce back against Atletico
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid face off at the Wanda Metropolitano in a huge clash on Saturday. Here are five bold predictions for La Liga matchday 13.
La Liga continues to surprise and astound with no team asserting clear dominance. Barcelona are top but they’re only averaging two points per game and they lost 4-3 to Real Betis prior to the international break, which ended their two-year unbeaten run at Camp Nou. Sevilla came from being behind to beat Espanyol in a battle of the contenders while Atletico Madrid survived a scare as Diego Godin scored a late winner to complete a comeback over Athletic Bilbao.
Alaves maintained their strong start with a 2-1 win over bottom side Huesca. Real Madrid continued their resurgence under Santiago Solari with a 4-2 victory over Celta Vigo to make it four wins in a row in all competitions. This has caused a small gap to open up between sixth and the rest of the table as they threaten to break away. Here are five bold predictions for the weekend.
5. Valencia to continue winning streak
Los Che appear finally to be regaining last season’s form with two consecutive wins for the first time this season, although the international break could have dampened that momentum. Switzerland’s Young Boys were dispatched 3-1 in the Champions League and this was followed up by a tough encounter against a stubborn Getafe side with Dani Parejo’s penalty securing the three points.
Prior to the Young Boys game, they faced Girona at home and managed to lose 1-0 even though they absolutely dominated in terms of xG (expected goals), 2.58 to 0.38, according to Understat. They also beat Ebro before that in the Copa del Rey so their form appears to be finally replicating the underlying numbers.
Goalscoring has been the main issue because they’ve only scored eight goals in 12 games. They’re massively underperforming their xG of 17.09, so chance creation certainly isn’t an issue. This explains the 10 draws in all competitions as Marcelino has been able to maintain the solid defensive shape from last season by sticking with his usual 4-4-2 system.
Rayo Vallecano’s ambitious style and willingness to control possession suits Valencia perfectly. They can sit deep and absorb pressure before quickly breaking on their opponents. Goncalo Guedes, Santi Mina and Rodrigo can all thrive on the counter-attack due to their pace and intelligent runs off the ball. Maintaining this run of form would be useful considering they face Juventus away with a win needed to maintain their hope of reaching the knockout stages and Real Madrid are up next after that.