Barcelona (23-7-5) at Real Valladolid (8-15-12)
La Liga Soccer: Saturday, July 11, 2020 at 1:30 pm (Estadio Jose Zorrilla)
The Line: Valladolid +900 / Draw +400 / Barcelona -300 -- O/U: 2.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: beIN sports, fubo tv, beIN sports en espanol Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now!
Valladolid play host to Barcelona in La Liga soccer action from the Estadio Jose Zorrilla on Saturday afternoon.
Valladolid comes into this match in 14th place on 29 points with a record of 8 wins, 15 draws and 12 losses after a 2-1 loss to Valencia in their last league game. In the loss to Valencia, the first half only saw one action as Valencia went ahead 1-0 on the half hour mark. The goal held until Valladolid tied the game at one two minutes after halftime. We appeared headed for a score draw in the late stages of the second half, but Valencia would pick up the win and the points with a goal in the 89th minute, leaving Valladolid empty-handed at full time. Enes Unal and Sergi Guardiola each have a team-high 6 goals while five different players each have a team-high two assists this season. Jordi Masip is Valladolid’s top goalkeeper, conceding 0.97 goals per 90 minutes with 11 clean sheets in 34 league appearances this season.
Barcelona on the other hand, come into this one in 2nd place on 76 points with a record of 23 wins, 7 draws and 5 losses following a 1-0 win over Espanyol in their last match. In the win over Espanyol, the first half saw no scoring and only two bookings that went the way of Espanyol. The second half saw substitute Ansu Fati sent off within a minute of coming off of the bench after a horrendous tackle, but Espanyol would be reduced to ten men themselves just three minutes after that. Luis Suarez would put Los Che in front in the 56th minute, and despite Espanyol’s best attempts, they would have just 26% possession in the second half and one shot on target, leaving Barcelona to keep the clean sheet and the win right behind. Messi leads Barcelona in scoring with 22 goals as well as a team-high 19 assists while Suarez has 15 goals and 8 assists this season. Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen leads Barcelona in goal, conceding 0.91 goals per 90 minutes with 13 clean sheets in 34 league appearances this season.
I’d like to give Valladolid a fighting chance at home, but the fact is that they’re in way over their heads here. Valladolid’s picked up points in six of eight games since the restart, but four of those games were draws and the two wins didn’t come against anyone special. The two losses to Valencia and Atletico were only by one goal, but Barcelona won the reverse fixture 5-1 and I think the Catalans have a chip on their shoulders here. I’ll side with Barcelona to win with the -1.5 handicap as well as putting a bit on Barcelona to win to nil as I could easily see this being 3-0 or 4-0.
Chris’s Pick Barcelona -1.5 (EVEN) / Barcelona win to nil +115
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg