Barca overcome frustration against the bottom club?
FC Barcelona have had a week to forget. In the last La Liga game before the short Christmas break – La Liga resumes on January 2 after a brief interruption – Barça will be looking to finally get a win to calm their nerves and celebrate Christmas a little more calmly with three points in the bag.
Despite a series of disappointing results recently, Barça are the heavy favorites against the team bottom of the table, as the odds of the best bookmakers for Barcelona v Almeria make clear. It is obviously assumed that Xavi’s eleven will get the frustration off their chest
Whether FC Barcelona will succeed or whether Almeria, who are bottom of the table, can hold out, we find out in our preview of the La Liga match Barcelona vs Almeria including betting odds, predictions, statistics and team checks for both clubs.
Barcelona – stats & current form
The last time Barça went three games in a row without a win was in April this year. At that time, however, the Catalans were clearly on course for the title, which is why the slip-ups had no consequences. This time it looks very different. After the league defeat at home to surprise team Girona (2:4) and the 1:1 in Valencia, the gap to first place is already a whopping nine points.
In between, there was also an embarrassing (albeit insignificant) defeat in the Champions League at Royal Antwerp – and the reigning champions are already in a crisis mood. “We have total confidence in Xavi. He’s a great coach,” said president Joan Laporta recently, publicly backing the criticized Xavi
FC Barcelona’s frustration management against Almeria?
This one needs good results, of course, for calm to return. As Christmas is supposed to be peaceful, a home win – a convincing one at that – is of course a must. If you believe that the Catalans can really get over their frustration, you can aim for a handicap win of -2 in Barcelona v Almeria. Because in the normal three-way betting, the home win tip is not playable, despite the weak form of the Xavi team, they are the heavy favorites.
Since Barça’s defense has often been shaky recently – the Blaugrana have only managed to keep a clean sheet in two of their last eight games – a Barça victory with Over 2.5 or 3.5 goals is also worth considering. The possibility of Barça being sloppy at the back again could never be ruled out.
Predicted Barcelona line-up:
Almeria – Statistics & current form
What speaks in favor of a comfortable win against Almeria is not only Barcelona’s home advantage – they are usually a force at home, of course – but also the opponent Barça will face in the English week in general. UD Almeria are not only bottom of the table, but also the only winless team in the Spanish top flight.
The Andalusians have only managed to pick up a meagre five points from five draws, leaving them eight points adrift of the drop zone. With 39 goals conceded, Almeria also have the weakest defense in La Liga. That alone suggests that a couple of Barça goals and a big win are a very good bet for Barcelona v Almeria
Almeria have the weakest defense in the league, but have kept a clean sheet twice recently
At least: Almeria have kept a clean sheet in two of their last three games, meaning they have been able to stabilize their defence considerably. The 0-0 draw against Betis at the beginning of December was still seen as a point gained against a Europa League contender, while the most recent 0-0 draw against relegation candidates Mallorca on Sunday was of course rather disappointing. However, these were the first two games of the season in which Almeria did not concede a goal. And in the game in between against Atletico Madrid, they “only” narrowly lost 2:1 and made it quite difficult for the big favorites in the end.
As unpleasant as the table looks from Almeria’s perspective, the form curve is at least somewhat positive. Anyone who believes that the big underdog can snatch points from the stumbling Barça will find odds averaging 5.50 to 6.00 on the double chance X/2 for Barcelona v Almeria.
Predicted line-up of Almeria:
Barcelona – Almeria head-to-head comparison / H2H result
Barça should not take the bottom club lightly – the Andalusians won their last game 1-0 at home in February last season. It was the first ever win for Almeria against the Catalans, who had lost all of their previous nine games.
The overall record in this pairing in just 16 encounters is: 13 wins for Barcelona, two draws and the aforementioned one win for Almeria. Eleven of Barcelona’s 13 wins against Almeria have been by two goals or more
Barcelona – Almeria betting tip
Barça are reeling and wobbling and in crisis – and will be happy to finally have a supposedly easy home game. They have regularly struggled in away games this season, both in La Liga and the Champions League. At home, however, Barça have shown a different face, even if they have already suffered two home defeats – but these came against Real Madrid and Girona, the two top teams.
Since the performance against Valencia deserved a win, Barça created plenty of good chances and had an xG value of over 3, we now expect a reaction against Almeria. Also because the team at the bottom of the table is the shooting gallery of the league. Barça show a reaction, win comfortably and calm things down before Christmas. That’s why we’re backing the Catalans to win the game between Barcelona and Almeria
