Barcelona vs. Galatasaray Predictions: Goals expected at the Nou Camp

Galatasaray travel to Spain to take on Barcelona in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie on Thursday and @AnthonyEadson has previewed the game and given us his best bets for the game at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona overcame Napoli 5-3 on aggregate in the Round of 32 to set up their tie with Galatasaray. The first leg will be played at the Nou Camp, kicking off at 20:00 on Thursday evening live on BT Sport. 

The Catalans are the 11/4 favourites to go all the way in the Europa League after a humiliating defeat from the Champions League group stage. Xavi has really started to get a tune out of his players in recent weeks with his side unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions. 

Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati and Gavi are all confirmed absentees for the home side, with the latter missing out due to picking up three yellow cards in European competition. 

Galatasaray are unbeaten in this year's Europa League after topping Group E which included Lazio, Marseille and Lokomotiv Moscow. It’s a different story for the Turkish side domestically as they find themselves down in 12th in the Super Liga table. Gala have won just two of their last nine matches since the turn of the year with five defeats and not one clean sheet in that period. 

After one of the most turbulent season’s in their prestigious 122-year history Barcelona look to finally be a team on the up. Xavi has settled into his new role at the club and is playing some of the lucrative brand of football that the Catalans have become famous for over the last two decades. 

In January, Barca brought in a plethora of attacking talent with Adama Traore, Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all arriving at the club. Despite going eight games unbeaten in all competitions (W6 D2), Barcelona have still struggled to tighten up their defence and both teams to score has landed in 13 of their last 16 matches.

With the home side’s embarrassment of riches in attack, I expect plenty of goals here but with their recent defensive record in mind, I do think there's a strong case to be made here for Galatasaray getting on the scoresheet. 

6/5 is on show with bet365 for over 3.5 goals in the match, which at the time of writing looks to be the best price out there. This selection has landed in eight of Barcelona’s last 10 matches in all competitions and the floodgates could open on Thursday with Xavi conscious of wrapping this tie up in the first leg.

The second selection that I’m touting for this Europa League clash is for Jordi Alba to provide an assist anytime in the match. Paddy Power and Betfair go 11/4 for the Spaniard to provide an assist against Galatasaray and no player has more for the Catalans this season with the left-back registering seven in 19 La Liga appearances this season.

I really see Barca putting a good few goals past their Turkish opponents on Thursday and another large proportion of my thinking behind this bet is that 43% of Barcelona’s attacks in La Liga have come down the left side of the field this season. No other team has a higher percentage of their attacks coming down the right or left side of the pitch this season and with BetVictor going just 5/4 on the same bet, I’m happy to take the 11/4 on show with Betfair or Paddy Power.

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