Barca with problems away from home: Will Las Palmas end their historic losing streak?
After the short Christmas break, La Liga continues as FC Barcelona kick off the new year on the Canary Islands. The reigning champions, who were repeatedly weak in the first half of 2023, host promoted UD Las Palmas on Thursday evening at 9:30 p.m.
It’s a tough visit to the restart of the league for the team led by attacker Robert Lewandowski, but as the odds of the best bookmakers for Las Palmas vs Barcelona show, Barça are still the clear favorites. This is despite the Blaugrana’s poor form before the Christmas break and their regular problems in away games this season, while Las Palmas are very uncomfortable to play against at home in the Estadio de Gran Canaria
Whether FC Barcelona can start the new year with a win or what the reasons are for the rebellious promoted team to hold out, we find out in our preview of the La Liga match Las Palmas vs Barcelona including betting odds, predictions, statistics and team checks for both clubs.
Las Palmas – stats & current form
UD Las Palmas took a few games to find their feet in La Liga following their promotion, but the promoted side from the vacation island of Gran Canaria are now regarded as one of the surprise teams this season. Las Palmas failed to win their first five games of the season and scored just one meagre goal, but their record since then has been impressive. Las Palmas have only lost four games since the sixth matchday.
With 25 points, the team from Gran Canaria are in 10th place and are already a whopping twelve points clear of the relegation zone – very few would have thought before the season that Las Palmas would be so comfortably placed in the table at the end of the year and have nothing to do with relegation
Las Palmas: possession and defensive bulwark
The main reason for the strong points haul: coach Garcia Pimienta’s style of play, which is based on possession and often prevents the opposition from getting a dangerous shot on goal. Only FC Barcelona (around 65%) have more possession in La Liga than Las Palmas (59%), and only Real Madrid (11 goals conceded) have a better defense than Las Palmas (15 goals conceded).
Garcia Pimienta’s team rarely concede goals at home in particular, with five goals conceded in eight home games being the second-best figure in the league. There are few goals in games involving Las Palmas – only four times this season have three goals been scored, and never more than three.
Therefore, the bet on under 2.5 goals in the match between Las Palmas and Barcelona is a very obvious one, but one that also offers good odds. The bookmaker Interwetten is offering odds of 2.10 on this for Las Palmas v Barcelona
Predicted Las Palmas line-up:
Barcelona – Statistics & current form
The visit to Gran Canaria will definitely not be a walk in the park for Barça, as Las Palmas have only suffered one home defeat. To make matters worse, the Blaugrana are anything but solid away from home, even though Xavi’s side have yet to suffer an away defeat. However, they have only won three of their eight games this season.
Five draws away from home – against relegation candidates and mid-table teams such as Granada, Mallorca, Rayo and Getafe – are far too many points dropped for the reigning champions, who are already well clear of league leaders and arch-rivals Real Madrid as a result.
Barcelona often only draw away from home – even against Las Palmas?
Barcelona’s form before Christmas was anything but consistent and good. Barça have won just five of their last ten competitive matches in La Liga and the Champions League. In view of this, the prediction of another draw in Las Palmas vs. Barcelona could be obvious, with average odds of over 4.00.
The last away win for the faltering Xavi side dates back to November 4, when they won 1-0 in stoppage time in San Sebastian after another poor performance. The Catalan side’s easy success at the promoted side should therefore not necessarily be taken for granted.
Predicted Barcelona line-up:
Las Palmas – Barcelona head-to-head comparison / H2H result
A draw would certainly be considered a point for Las Palmas, but a win would be a liberation – because it would be historic and would end an incredibly long series. Las Palmas’ last win against Barcelona dates back to 1991 in the Copa del Rey. The last league win came in 1986 – Las Palmas have been waiting more than 30 years for a win against Barça. However, this is of course also due to the fact that the team from the Spanish vacation island has often been lower class and has only spent seven seasons in Spain’s top division since their last home win.
Unsurprisingly, the overall record in this clash clearly favors Barcelona: Barça won 47 of 75 games, with eight draws and 20 victories for Las Palmas.
Las Palmas – Barcelona betting tip
Can the strong promoted team from Gran Canaria also upset the champions? It really wouldn’t come as a surprise. Not only because Las Palmas have a strong defense and only one home defeat. At the Estadio de Gran Canaria, they also deservedly beat the clearly favored Atletico Madrid 2:1 on matchday 12.
The possession-oriented style of play of Garcia Pimienta – formerly coach of FC Barcelona’s second team – is unlikely to suit Barça on Thursday evening
The fact that Barça have been very weak against the ball this season could be seen increasingly in December. Las Palmas should therefore be an uncomfortable place for Xavi’s team if Los Amarillos allow the ball to circulate. As Las Palmas are at best calm and level-headed and at worst ponderous and slow when they have the ball, we expect them to score few goals. Las Palmas score few goals and concede few goals – the hosts have only scored 30 goals this season, a negative figure in La Liga. For this reason, we bet on Under 2.5 goals at odds of 2.10 with 5 units for Las Palmas vs Barcelona
