Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Betting Tips: Vinicius Junior to dazzle in El Clasico
The first El Clasico of the season won't be televised due to the 3pm UK blackout but it's still a great punting opportunity whenever Barcelona and Real Madrid get together.
Both teams navigated 2-1 victories in the Champions League midweek, but it's the visitors who enter this face off at the top of the hill in La Liga. Madrid have accumulated one more point than Saturday's hosts despite losing a game unlike their counterparts.
Barcelona have won seven of their opening 10 La Liga fixtures, and although they're yet to taste defeat in the league or in Europe for that matter, draws have been their undoing domestically. Getafe, Mallorca and Granada have all forced Barca to share the spoils on the road, but unluckily for Real, this game is being played on temporary home turf for FCB.
The bookmakers are effectively splitting hairs when pricing up these two in the match result market. Barcelona have a 40% implied chance of winning the game at 6/4, while Madrid are ever so slightly larger at 9/5. The draw, which hasn't landed since December 2019's 0-0, represents a 27/10 chance.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid Tips
The story of this particular clash may well be about who isn't playing rather than who is taking to the field. Barcelona had only 12 first-team players available for Wednesday's match with Shakhtar Donetsk, and although they were able to successfully navigate that challenge, Real Madrid are a completely different task altogether.
Barca will be without a number of significant attacking players, including Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski - the latter underdoing further tests on an ankle injury sustained while on European duty.
Saturday's threadbare hosts may have been able to live with such a depleted squad had it not been Madrid paying them a visit this weekend. Their job of winning the match is made even more difficult by the fact that Carlo Ancelotti's side have conceded the fewest goals in the division (7) and have faced the third-fewest shots in La Liga this term, which is why we're backing Barcelona to score under two goals here.
Vini Jr hasn't quite hit the heights of his previous two seasons but after a month back from injury he's showing signs of his former self.
The Brazilian recently netted in two consecutive matches against Napoli and Osasuna at the start of the month, forming quite a formidable partnership with new recruit Jude Bellingham down Madrid's left-hand side.
20-year-old Jude has started to drift to that left flank, allowing Vinicius Junior to attack the space in the centre of the pitch. The pair are sure to be a thorn in the side of Barcelona full-back Joao Cancelo who loves to play high up the pitch. When the Portuguese defender gets forward the Madrid duo will utilise the space in behind and through this method we could see a full scale assault in front of goal from the winger.
Gavi risks suspension with another card but there's no way he or other card culprits will pull any punches in a cut-throat derby like this. Only four La Liga players have picked up more cards than his tally of four, with Madrid loanee Juan Latasa the only player to commit more fouls than Gavi's 26 across 10 appearances.
It's worth shopping around for the best price considering how bet365 were the only bookmaker to have their cards market posted at the time of writing.
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