Barcelona vs. Eintracht Frankfurt Predictions: Pedri tipped to sparkle at the Nou Camp

Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt clash at the Nou Camp on Thursday (8pm, BT Sport) for a place in the Europa League semi-finals against either West Ham or Lyon. The teams played out a first-leg 1-1 draw in Germany after Ferran Torres cancelled out Ansgar Knauff’s opening goal. Below we bring you two tips for the quarter-final second-leg...

Since the first-leg Barcelona overcame Levante 3-2 thanks to a dramatic late winner, which extended the club’s unbeaten run to 15 matches in all competitions, dating back to mid-January.

The Catalan club may have left it too late in La Liga - 12 points off leaders Real Madrid, albeit with a game in hand - but they are the bookmakers’ favourites to win the Europa League for the first time in the club’s history. It would also represent the first trophy of the Xavi era.

Before they can even think about setting their sights on silverware they must first overcome a dangerous Frankfurt side who caused them numerous problems in the first-leg and were unfortunate not to claim the win. The hosts were very threatening on the break and accumulated 16 shots to Barcelona’s seven.

Frankfurt, who won the UEFA Cup in 1980, are bidding to reach the semi-finals for the second time in four seasons. A failure to convert draws into wins has been a recurring theme of late with the weekend’s 2-1 defeat at home to Freiburg stretching their winless run to six league and cup matches (five draws).

Frankfurt are out at 15/2 to stun Barcelona in the Nou Camp with a win, while they’re 9/2 to qualify. The hosts are 4/11 to win on the night and as short as 1/5 to progress through to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, a draw is available at 41/10, which would force extra-time.

Barcelona disappointed in Germany, despite dominating possession, but buoyed by their last-gasp win over the weekend we fully expect Xavi's side to seal their semi-final place on home soil, where they’ve only lost once in 90 minutes since Xavi’s appointment back in November.

Barcelona surprisingly lacked potency and creativity in the first-leg, yet it’s likely to be a different story on their own patch where we’re backing them to win and both teams to score at 15/8 with bet365.

La Blaugrana have won nine of their last 11 games, scoring 2+ goals eight times during that run, including four in the recent demolition of Real Madrid. 

Frankfurt haven’t exactly been free-scoring during their winless run, it’s a mystery how they found the back of the net only once in the first-leg. They are likely to adopt a similar counter-attacking style at the Nou Camp and we expect them to threaten Marc-André ter Stegen’s goalmouth once again and continue their record of scoring in every Europa League game this season; both teams have scored in eight of their nine matches.

Pedri has hit a hot streak, scoring three times in the last month - all in Barcelona wins - including two goals in his last three games. On top of that he’s accrued nine shots in five Europa League games this term, scoring in the 2-1 win away to Galatasaray last month. 

”Pedri is a sensational player and he is differential,” Xavi beamed after the exciting young midfielder scored in Sunday’s 3-2 win away to Levante.

The 19-year-old is a dazzling talent who has been involved in eight wins and a draw in nine games since returning from a three-month injury in January. He’s a game-changer who makes things happen and we fully expect him to play a pivotal role on Thursday night, and we like the look of the 7/1 (Paddy Power) for the starlet to score in a Barcelona win for the third time in four games.