Prediction, Odds & Betting Tips for Las Palmas vs. Barcelona at La Liga
Prediction, Odds & Betting Tips for Las Palmas vs. Barcelona at La Liga
Las Palmas is surprisingly high in La Liga standings, sitting ninth at the moment, a few points away from the zone that leads to international competitions. They have one of the best defenses in the league and rely mostly on a conservative approach, which produces dull matches. Barcelona is trying to find its rhythm, and they aren’t doing well. The reigning Spanish champions are seven points behind Real Madrid and Girona, which is a reason for concern at Camp Nou.
Las Palmas
After three straight victories, Los Amarillos couldn’t win in back-to-back matches. First, they played 1-1 at home against Cadiz before losing on the road against Athletic Bilbao with a minimal result, 1-0.
As stated before, the biggest virtue of this team is its ability to defend and remain calm throughout all 90 minutes. After 18 rounds, Las Palmas conceded only 15 goals, which is the second-best result in the entire league, with only Real Madrid having a better defense. That needs to be credited.
However, they are one of the worst attacking units in Spain. Las Palmas have scored 15 times so far, and only two teams have a worse record. This is by far the biggest reason why they aren’t even better in the standings.
Barcelona
Believe it or not, Barca has only one victory in the last four contests. They have lost two matches, against Girona and Antwerp, settling for a draw against Valencia before winning against Almeria.
All of these events ended with both teams scoring, which was the case in eight of Barcelona’s previous ten encounters. Over 2.5 goals have been frequent as well, with four of those five meetings ending with it. We’ve noticed that Barca isn’t reacting well to high-scoring affairs and that the majority of its success came when games weren’t that efficient.
Xavi experiences problems with chemistry on the field, and to be honest, we don’t know whether this team has enough power to overcome all the adversities. In our personal opinion, them winning La Liga last year was kinda unexpected, and seeing them defend the trophy would be a sensation.
Las Palmas: Valles; Araujo, Coco, Marmol, Park; El Haddadi, Munoz, Loiodice, K Rodriguez, Kaba; M Cardona
Barcelona: Pena; Cancelo, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Gundogan, Romeu, Lopez; Raphinha, Felix, Lewandowski
* at the time of writing these lineups were relevant
These two units met for the last time five years ago. Las Palmas was the host, and managed to stay unbeaten against Blaugrana, 1-1. The game at Camp Nou that season concluded with Barcelona’s 3-0 triumph.
For us, this is a no-brainer – under 2.5 goals. Let us explain why. Las Palmas is one of the hardest teams to break, and Barcelona likes such an approach because they, too, aren’t very keen on attacking and constantly pressuring. Therefore, we predict a slow and monotonous contest.
Our verdict: Under 2.5 goals