Will Granada upset FC Barcelona for the third time in a row?
Three straight wins in competitive matches, Champions League places just a point away: things are looking up for FC Barcelona, even if the victories have come by the skin of their teeth and also a portion of luck.
On the 20th matchday of La Liga, coach Xavi’s team plays host to FC Granada in Andalusia on Saturday at 18:30 – and will even start as favourites, as the odds of the betting providers with a German licence show before the match Granada vs. Barcelona.
However, you can expect a game on a knife edge, because the Catalans still have personnel problems, while Granada can show a small series in La Liga.
For this reason, you should be cautious about predicting an easy win for the visitors in Granada vs. Barcelona – we’ll explain why in the course of this article.
Granada – Statistics & current form
While Barcelona had to play in the sixteen-finals of the Copa del Rey during the week, Granada had a game off. The Andalusians were already eliminated in the 2nd round of the cup by fourth division side Mancha Real. As embarrassing as the cup exit in mid-December was, of course, they now have a small advantage before Saturday’s game against the Blaugrana: While Barça had the double burden, Granada could prepare for the upcoming opponent all week.
That won’t make it any easier for Barcelona, and Granada’s defeat at Mancha Real was their first since the end of November. For in La Liga, Granada is on a bit of a run. The Andalusians are currently unbeaten in five games in a row and have thus accumulated a small cushion in the relegation battle. Seven points separate the team of coach Robert Moreno from the relegation places.
Granada with unbeaten streak and important points against their rivals
Just against direct rivals, they recently achieved good results: Granada beat relegation candidates Mallorca (4:1) and Alaves (2:1) in direct duels, and drew with Cadiz (1:1) and Elche (0:0) last weekend.
This shows that Granada is difficult to beat at the current stage. Those who believe that the Andalusians’ streak will continue after Barça’s visit should consider betting on a draw at Granada vs.
We even consider the double chance 1X to be interesting – although of course not without risk. After all, the betting providers offer odds of over 2.00 on the game Granada vs. Barcelona. Unibet currently offers the top odds – with our sports betting odds comparison, you always have the best odds of the betting providers in view.
Predicted line-up of Granada:
Maximiano – Quini, Sanchez, Duarte, Neva – Milla, Gonalons, Puertas, Eteki, Machis – Suarez
Last matches played by Granada:
LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Elche 0 – 0 Granada
12/22 2021 – Granada 2 – 1 Atletico Madrid
12/19 2021 – Granada 4 – 1 Mallorca
Copa del Rey
12/16 2021 – Atletico Mancha Real 1 – 0 Granada
LaLiga
12/13 2021 – Cadiz 1 – 1 Granada
Barcelona – Statistics & current form
Little by little things are looking up for Barça. At least the results have been good lately, the Catalan team has won three matches in a row – but all three were very close. Before Christmas, they won 3:2 against Elche, last weekend there was a 1:0 in Mallorca – including a top save by Marc-André ter Stegen in injury time, who saved Barça the three points – and on Wednesday, Barça again won the cup against third division team Linares with a narrow 2-1 victory.
“It was a victory of will,” said Xavi after the cup win, in which Barça even fell behind. The three victories certainly give Barça a boost, but every point they win has to be hard-fought, after all, Xavi still only has a skeleton squad at his disposal. Against Mallorca, no less than 15 players were missing due to positive infection tests and injuries. It won’t be clear until the match day itself on Saturday whether Xavi will have a few more players at his disposal again.
Barça with many personnel problems before guest game in Granada
In Linares, Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong also suffered injuries, so Barça will be without two more key players against Granada. For this reason alone, one should not be too euphoric when betting on Granada against Barcelona. They still have a lot of personnel problems and always struggle to win matches. We find the betting odds on a draw at half-time in Granada vs. Barcelona more interesting, because we expect another extremely close affair.
Also interesting: Granada has scored at least one goal in every home game so far. So for those who don’t want to go out on a limb in the three-way, both teams scoring might be an interesting proposition. The average odds for Granada vs. Barcelona are 1.75.
Predicted line-up of Barcelona:
Ter Stegen – Garcia, Piqué, Lenglet – Alves, Busquets, Gonzalez, Gavi, Alba – Dembélé, Jutgla
Last matches played by Barcelona:
Copa del Rey
01/05 2022 – Linares Deportivo 1 – 2 Barcelona
LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Mallorca 0 – 1 Barcelona
12/21 2021 – Sevilla 1 – 1 Barcelona
12/18 2021 – Barcelona 3 – 2 Elche
Club friendlies
12/14 2021 – Barcelona (2)1 – 1(4) Boca Juniors
Granada – Barcelona Direct Comparison / H2H Record
The Andalusians have recently proved twice that Granada can annoy the favoured Catalans. Granada took points in both of their last two visits to the Camp Nou. On Matchday 5, the two teams drew 1-1 in their first meeting this season, with Barça equalising just a few minutes before the end.
Last season, Granada even won 2-1 at the Camp Nou. The last meeting at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes in Granada was also memorable: In the cup in February, Granada led 2-0 until the final stages – in the end, Barça won the highly dramatic duel 5-3 after extra time!
Granada – Barcelona Tip
Once again, there is a lot to be said for a really close game. Granada are undefeated in five league games and have annoyed Barça in the last three duels. The Catalans, who have won a few games recently, but each time with a great deal of effort and luck, will have to do without a large number of professionals.
For this reason, a draw between Granada and Barça would surprise us just as little as another extremely narrow victory for the Xavi eleven with the one goal difference, which may even be scored very late.
For this reason, we refrain from betting in the three-way. Our Granada vs. Barcelona prediction is therefore: At half-time we go into the dressing rooms with a draw.
