Barcelona vs Real Betis 26/08/19

26 August 2019

Barcelona will kick off their La Liga (LL) home campaign this weekend when they take on Real Betis at Camp Nou.

The hosts are looking for a way out of a severe crisis that has seen them win just one of their last six games across all competitions (W1, D1, L4). Furthermore, the Catalans have failed to find the net in three of those defeats – a 1-0 away loss to Athletic Bilbao in the LL curtain-raiser included. But, it is a whole different story when it comes to their recent home record. The reigning LL holders have racked up a nine-game winning home run across all competitions. While six of those triumphs saw them beat their rivals to nil, eight have witnessed at least two Barca’s goals per match. Before a 4-3 home loss to Betis last season, Barcelona have secured nine successive triumphs over the Andalusian outfit at this venue in all competitions.

Meanwhile, the visitors have struggled to build on back-to-back wins from the final stage of the 2018/20 campaign having suffered a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Valladolid in the opening league game. Although they were the only Spanish team to beat Barca at Camp Nou last season, Los Verdiblancos have failed to impress when away from home in their last six LL trips last term (W1, D1, L4). While three of those losses saw Betis concede over 1.5 match goals, Verderones have struggled to find the net in two. Still, the Andalusians have returned seven points from H2H away clashes with LL top-four sides last year (W2, D1, L1), with three of those games featuring under 2.5 goals.