La Liga: Barcelona vs Valencia Live
Preview: Barcelona vs Valencia
Barcelona vs Valencia is scheduled to come off at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Monday at 7:00pm as Barca seek to bounce back a gut wrenching defeat in the Classico. Barcelona is now trailing Real Madrid by 14 points in the standings, and the away side recently experienced a setback in their European ambitions with a 2-1 defeat to Real Betis.
Barcelona’s chances of defending their La Liga title took a major blow with a narrow 3-2 loss in the recent El Clasico match, leaving them trailing Real Madrid by 14 points with only six games left in the season. Despite being knocked out of the Champions League, there was a positive development as manager Xavi Hernández decided to extend his stay beyond the current season. His main goal now is to secure a second-place finish for Barca. Barca will face Valencia next, a team they have not lost to at home in league matches since April 2016, which should give them confidence going into the game.
The away side is close to the top-seven in the standings and still have a chance to qualify for Europe. However, a recent 2-1 loss to Real Betis has made their goal more challenging, as they face the possibility of losing consecutive league games for the first time since October. They have not won a head-to-head match in the league since January 2020, making their prospects of avoiding this outcome seem unlikely. Despite this, Valencia have managed to win two away league matches in a row without conceding a goal, and they could achieve a third consecutive such victory for the first time since November 2017.
Head-to-head
Barca managed to secure a 1-1 draw against Valencia in their latest league match. Out of their last 6 encounters, Barca emerged victorious in 5 matches, while Valencia won none, resulting in 1 draw. Across these 6 head-to-head meetings, a total of 18 goals were scored, with Barcelona netting 13 and Valencia scoring 5.
Prediction
Both Barcelona and the away side had strong defensive strategies in place before their defenses were breached last weekend. However, Barca has a stronger attacking lineup compared to Valencia. With the recent news of Xavi’s decision to stay as coach, Barca, the reigning champions, are expected to end their two-game winless streak with a solid performance.
