Barcelona vs Valencia 03/02/19

03 February 2019

After hammering Sevilla 6-1 in midweek’s Copa del Rey clash, Barcelona return to La Liga this weekend as they welcome an improving Valencia side to Camp Nou.

The league leaders enter this round with an eight-game LL winning run during which they’ve scored 25 goals while conceded just two in the process. The Catalans have been ruthless at home since a 4-3 loss to Real Betis, securing four successive LL home triumphs, beating their opponents with a minimum of 2-goal margin. No team has bagged more goals at home that Barcelona (36) this term, with the Blaugrana averaging 3.27 goals scored per match. Barca’s defense that has already allowed 13 goals in 11 LL home outings have also improved lately, restricting their rivals to a maximum of one goal per match in their last eight competitive games at Camp Nou.

Meanwhile, the visitors have performed a stunning comeback against Getafe in midweek’s Copa del Rey meeting, dumping the Azulones out of the competition thanks to two goals in the injury-time. Although the Bets won four of their last five games across all competitions (W4, L1), Marcelino Garcia Toral has to worry about his players’ performance away from home. Not only the Oranges achieved barely one triumph on the previous seven road trips in all competitions, but they’ve suffered five defeats in the sequence (W1, D1, L5). In the same period, Valencia have failed to keep a clean sheet, conceding over 1.5 goals per match three times. Another worrying fact is that Marcelino’s men failed to hit the net three times in the previous eight road meetings, scoring over 1.5 goals per match only once in the process.