Ends Levante’s horror series at Camp Nou against struggling Barça?
FC Barcelona are in crisis – can the Catalans get out of it on Sunday? On matchday 7 of La Liga, the Catalans face Levante at home on Sunday at 16:15.
Three points are a must, of course – but the last two games show that this will not be a foregone conclusion given Barcelona’s current state.
The Catalans only managed disappointing draws against Granada and Cadiz, the mood is anything but good, the self-confidence is in the basement.
And coach Ronald Koeman’s chair is shaking badly after three games without a win. Nevertheless, Barça go into the home game as clear favourites, as the bookmakers’ odds make clear ahead of Barcelona vs. Levante.
The lack of self-confidence and the personnel situation mean, however, that before Barcelona vs. Levante the bet on the home win does not look particularly lucrative at first and second glance, at least not in the three-way. Odds of 1.43 on average are not very lucrative at the moment.
However, if Barça fail to win again, Ronald Koeman could actually be out of a job on Sunday.
Spain Barcelona – Statistics & current form
“We are going through a phase that we are not used to,” said Gerard Piqué after another disappointing draw. The English week has so far seen Barça play two games in four days and draw two bitterly.
On Monday, they drew 1-1 at home to Granada on Matchday 5 – a result that, although not up to Barcelona’s standards, must even be considered a point gained by the Blaugrana. After all, Barça desperately chased a very early deficit for 88 minutes, only managing to equalise in the 90th minute.
Barcelona plagued by enormous personnel problems
Desperate was also the performance in Cadiz on Thursday night, where Barça again had few ideas and could not go beyond a 0-0 draw. To make matters worse, midfield powerhouse Frenkie De Jong also picked up a yellow red card which means he will now miss Sunday’s game against Levante.
This aggravates the personnel situation of the Catalans even more. FC Barcelona is currently not only mentally but also physically battered. Against Cadiz, seven important players were missing due to injury, and in De Jong the eighth player will be out.
Barcelona is extremely thin in midfield and forward line, and the youngsters will have to step up. This is another reason why Barça, which is in a state of upheaval, is currently producing such poor performances and results.
To predict a home win for Barcelona vs. Levante is of course reflexively obvious, but one should certainly not expect an all too effortless home victory, as has often been the case in the past at the Camp Nou.
Predicted Barcelona line-up:
Ter Stegen – Mingueza, Araujo, Garcia, Dest – Busquets, Roberto, Gavi – Demir, De Jong, Depay
Last matches played by Barcelona:
Spain Levante – Statistics & current form
Looking at the La Ligas table, one could say that in UD Levante a grateful opponent travels to the Camp Nou. The team from Valencia is still winless so far this season
Four teams in La Liga are still waiting for their first treble, Levante is one of them along with Granada, Getafe and Alaves. However, the “Granotas” have also only lost two of their six games – so along with Villarreal, they are La Liga’s draw kings so far with a whopping four draws
Three of those four draws may have felt like disappointments for Levante, though, coming against Cadiz (1-1), Elche (1-1) and promoted Rayo Vallecano (1-1) – all teams they really want and should be leaving behind in the table at the end of the day.
One of the four draws might also be a bit disappointing, but more because of the way it came about, less because of the result itself: Against record champions Real Madrid, Levante played 3:3 in a turbulent match on Matchday 2 – actually a great result for Levante, if Real’s equaliser hadn’t been scored just a few minutes before the end.
Speaking of a surprising and turbulent 3:3 against a top team: Levante is familiar with this result – because exactly this result was also achieved against FC Barcelona last season! In view of this and Barça’s crisis, if you also think Levante will win a point on Sunday, you should consider this tip at odds of over 5.00 before Barcelona vs. Levante, because it offers good value.
Predicted line-up of Levante:
Cardenas – Vezo, Mustafi, Pier – Miramon, Pepelu, Martinez Radoja, Franquesa – Marti, Morales
Last matches played by Levante:
Barcelona – Levante Direct comparison / H2H record
3:3 ended as mentioned the last meeting at the Ciutat de Valencia in May. At the Camp Nou last season, it was a close and also hard-fought 1-0 for Barcelona.
Levante can keep up with Barça, as they have shown on several occasions recently. After all, Levante have won three of their last ten matches – two in the league (3:1 and 5:4) and a 2:1 in the cup, all at home.
At the Camp Nou, however, Levante have never taken anything home! 18 games and 18 home wins for Barcelona here.
Spain Barcelona – Levante Spain Tip
FC Barcelona is in a crisis of purpose – but now comes their favourite opponent. At least as far as guest games at the Camp Nou are concerned. Because Barça doesn’t feel at all comfortable in games in Levante, but at the Camp Nou there have so far only been victories for the Catalans against the visitors from Valencia.
A good omen, then, for the struggling Blaugrana, who so desperately need a win. Because otherwise it could be the end of Ronald Koeman. The Dutchman’s chair is wobbling badly, will it finally fall on Sunday?
Barça are not convincing at the moment and the squad is severely depleted – but in view of Levante’s current form and the historic series of defeats at the Camp Nou, we believe the favourites will win by a narrow margin, but not without conceding a goal. Our prediction for Barcelona vs. Levante is: Barcelona win and both score
