El Clasico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid Preview, Odds, Predictions

Barcelona is awaiting Real Madrid in the greatest soccer derby on the planet. With all due respect towards other football rivalries, the clash between the two Spanish titans is something the entire world eagerly awaits to see. Blaugrana and Los Blancos are tied at the top spot of the Spanish La Liga, and whoever wins here, will separate from the big rival, and have an edge in head-to-head clashes.

With the current political situation in the province of Catalonia, El Clasico threatens to be somewhat more than just a sports event. Truth to be told, it already goes beyond the limits of soccer, but in this one, the tensions will be much higher than usual. Still, we aren’t interested in that, but odds and potential profits. The clash begins at 1 p.m. ET this Wednesday.

Preview

Barca (-125) comes into this event with nine games without a defeat, and their seven-match winning streak was interrupted last weekend in Sociedad, where Messi and the Co. played just 2-2. There isn’t too much of philosophy when breaking down Barcelona’s style and philosophy of play. For the last 25+ years, they prefer to play offensive, with the ball in their possession, and to score as many goals as possible. Now, all that got a new dimension with Lionel Messi, whose magic is something unique. Seven of Barcelona’s previous 10 matches saw over 2.5 goals, and their efficiency at home is even better. Over the last five contests at Camp Nou, they would score at least three times in four of them. The total goal difference during that span is 17:5 in their favor. So, that could give you a clear picture of how things work in front of Barca’s fans.

Real Madrid (+320) started the campaign slowly, not playing even near its potential. It is why Zinedine Zidane’s job was under a question mark, but the Frenchman would later sort things out, and right now, his crew didn’t lose in 11 consecutive games. It seems that this generation of Los Blancos doesn’t have such a profiled style of play as the previous one with Cristiano Ronaldo as a leader. This Real kinda adjusts to the opponent and finds a weak spot, after which they focus on that particular area and exploit that. You all remember how they played under Ronaldo, pretty much they would brutally tear apart the rival into pieces. When it comes to efficiency, the stats are similar to Barca’s, seven of the previous 10 meetings they had seen three or more scores. They snapped a four-game winning streak on the road against Valencia this weekend, playing just 1-1 against the great rival.

Head to head meetings

Did you know that Real didn’t defeat Barcelona in the last six events? During that stretch, Blaugrana recorded four victories, from which one particularly stands above others, 5-1 on October 28, 2019. They met four times last season, twice in La Liga and two times in Spanish Copa del Rey. Barca had three wins, and one match ended with a draw. Two of the most recent events both took place in Madrid, and Real couldn’t score a goal, losing both 0-3 and 0-1.

Prediction

Real is coming to Camp Nou without Eden Hazard, Marcelo, James Rodriguez, and Marco Asensio. Now, even with all these guys available, we would still give an edge to the Barca. The hosts are favorites (-125), and we believe that they aren’t going to have a problem winning this one. But what is more realistic and safer is to bet on goals. The profits might be a bit lower, but the risk is also. Over 2.5 (-225) looks inevitable, and for those of you who like to be adventurous, over 3.5 goals (+110) is the real deal.

Pick: Over 2.5 goals