After cup exit: How does Barça react in La Liga?
Two games in two cup competitions, two defeats after extra time: FC Barcelona have suffered two blows in the Supercopa and Copa del Rey. How is Barça coping with the recent defeats?
Xavi’s team does not have much time to reflect on the bitter cup defeat in Bilbao, as they already have a La Liga match on Sunday. Barça will play Deportivo Alaves at the Estadio Mendizorrotza in Vitoria-Gasteiz at 9 pm.
As the sixth-placed team in the table meets the tenth-placed team in the table, Barça will naturally go into the game against the relegation candidates as favourites, as the odds clearly show in Alaves vs. Barcelona.
And yet there are various reasons to be cautious with an overly brash bet on the Blaugrana. Not only because the Catalans still have the cup exit in their heads and bones. But also because the away form of the Xavi eleven is not exactly good.
We think that predicting an away win for Alaves vs. Barcelona at odds of just 1.60 is not particularly well-funded – after all, given Barça’s current bankruptcies and problems, there is quite a bit of risk for those who favour the three-way bet on Alaves vs. Barcelona.
Alaves – Statistics & current form
The main reason for the low odds on Barça winning is certainly not so much Barcelona’s form, but that of opponents Alaves. The Basques have been waiting for a win in La Liga for eight games. After five games without a win, coach Javier Calleja was recently sacked at the turn of the year and replaced by José Luis Mendilibar, the former Eibar coach.
But even under Mendilibar, Alaves have not yet been able to win. At least the new coach started with two quite respectable draws, a 1:1 against Real Sociedad followed by a 0:0 against Athletic Bilbao. But last Tuesday they suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at Real Betis – the first defeat under Mendilibar was therefore a heavy one.
Alaves under new coach Mendilibar still without a win
Due to the eight games without a win, Deportivo Alaves have slipped down to 18th place and are currently three points behind the safety net. The Basques’ main problem is scoring goals: Only one goal was scored under Medilibar, and Alaves has the weakest attack in La Liga with a total of just 16 goals. Eight home goals is the second weakest in La Liga, only Real Sociedad have scored fewer goals in front of their home crowd
Predicted line-up of Alaves:
Pacheco – Aguirregabiria, Miazga, Laguardia, Duarte – Rioja, Escalante, Moya, Jason – Mendez, Joselu
Last matches played by Alaves:
LaLiga
01/18 2022 – Real Betis 4 – 0 Deportivo Alaves
01/09 2022 – Deportivo Alaves 0 – 0 Athletic Bilbao
01/02 2022 – Deportivo Alaves 1 – 1 San Sebastian
12/21 2021 – Villarreal FC 5 – 2 Deportivo Alaves
12/18 2021 – Rayo Vallecano 2 – 0 Deportivo Alaves
Barcelona – Statistics & current form
So does Barça hold the nil in the face of Alaves’ attacking woes? It would be good for the Blaugrana – they have conceded a lot of goals lately. Barça have been eliminated twice in a row, losing 3-2 after extra time to Real Madrid in the Supercup and Athletic Bilbao in the Cup in highly dramatic matches, the main reason for the elimination being the shaky defence in each case.
“It’s a difficult week, but we’re moving on,” said new signing Ferran Torres after the bitter Copa knockout in Bilbao. The 55-million newcomer had made his competitive debut against Real Madrid, then scored his first goal in his second appearance for Barça in Bilbao – and a beautiful one at that.
Dream goal in the cup: Will Ferran Torres also score on his league debut?
The chances of that are reasonable, at least Barça’s offensive play is working better again recently, as two goals each against Real Madrid and Bilbao show. If Barcelona score two or more goals again, Betway offers betting odds of 1.61 for an Over 1.5 for Alaves against Barcelona.
However, it should be noted that they will be without Ansu Fati. The hopeful player suffered another muscle injury in Bilbao. And there is also a question mark behind Memphis Depay, whose hamstring problems forced the Dutchman to miss the cup.
Predicted line-up of Barcelona:
Ter Stegen – Alves, Araujo, Piqué, Alba – Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi – Abde, Luuk de Jong, Torres
Last matches played by Barcelona:
Copa del Rey
01/20 2022 – Athletic Bilbao 3 – 2 Barcelona
Super Cup
01/12 2022 – Barcelona 2 – 3 Real Madrid
LaLiga
01/08 2022 – Granada 1 – 1 Barcelona
Copa del Rey
01/05 2022 – Linares Deportivo 1 – 2 Barcelona
LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Mallorca 0 – 1 Barcelona
Alaves – Barcelona Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Alaves is actually something of a favourite opponent for Barcelona. In 42 duels, there have been 29 wins for Barça, with seven draws and only six victories for the Basques.
However, Alaves have managed to annoy the Catalans twice recently. In their first meeting this season on matchday 12 at the Camp Nou, Alaves managed a surprising 1-1 draw. The same result was achieved in the last encounter at the Estadio Mendizorrotza, when Alaves even managed to snatch a point from Barcelona when they were shorthanded. If you fancy Mendilibar’s men to be able to keep the Xavi side at bay again, you should consider the odds on the draw bet on Alaves against Barcelona, which are averaging 4.30.
Alaves – Barcelona Tip
Alaves have been waiting for a win against Barça for eleven games, the last one was in 2016. A home win would be a big surprise – a draw, however, less so. Not only because Barça left the pitch with a draw after 90 minutes in both cup competitions, but also in Granada (1:1) or at Osasuna (2:2) there were only point splits.
The Blaugrana’s weakness away from home is astonishing, Barça have failed to win eight of their ten matches away from home (2 wins, 6 draws, 2 defeats).
Therefore, another draw would not necessarily come as a surprise, but in the end we are betting that the better football team will prevail – albeit by a narrow margin. Also because Alaves has been waiting for a win for eight games, our prediction for Deportivo Alaves against Barcelona is: a work victory for the Xavi team. Barcelona will win and less than 3.5 goals will be scored
