Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona Betting Tips: Raphinha a generous price in the Shots on Target market

Real Sociedad host Barcelona in La Liga, live on ITV 4 on Sunday evening, with the game kicking off at 9pm. Here at BettingOdds, we’ve taken a look through the betting markets and have picked out two tips for the game that we like the look of.

The Spanish top-flight season got underway last weekend with Real Sociedad winning their curtain-raiser against Cadiz by one goal to nil. New signing Takefuso Kubo grabbed the only goal of the game although keeper Alex Remiro made some big saves at the death to earn his side the three points.

Barcelona will have been disappointed to start their league campaign with a goalless draw at home to Rayo Vallecano. Barca are unbeaten against Sociedad since back in 2016 and the most recent meeting between the pair ended in a 1-0 win for the Catalans back in April.

Off the field issues continue for Barcelona, and at the time of writing Joules Kounde has not been registered to play. Sergio Busquets will miss this game through suspension after two yellow cards against Rayo last weekend, while Sergio Dest will likely miss out with a potential transfer away from the club on the cards. 

The visitors are the favourites with the bookmakers to take all three points priced at 11/10 with most firms. The draw can be backed at 13/5, while Real Sociedad are being offered at 12/5 to make two wins from two this term.

We are kicking off our Spanish selections on Sunday with a pick from the shots on target market. Barcelona new-boy Raphinha is the player who we are targeting here with a generous looking even money on show from Betfair and Paddy Power for him to hit the target at least once in the match.

The Brazilian made his La Liga debut at the Camp Nou in Gameweek 1, letting off four shots in 59 minutes before being substituted, in what was to be a frustrating game for Barcelona. Raphinha recorded 25 shots on target in 35 league appearances for Leeds United last season and I expect that figure to rise now playing in a front three with Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele. BetVictor have this selection of Raphinha to have 1+ shot on target at just 1/2 and we were surprised to see Even money on show for this same bet with Paddy Power. 

We’ll also be recommending a play on another of Barcelona’s signings this summer and are backing Robert Lewandowski to open the scoring. Unibet are best-priced on this selection at the time of writing, with 15/4 on show, implying a 21% chance of this bet winning.

A striker who needs no introduction after his phenomenal career that could have turned out a lot differently had a volcano erupting not stopped him from flying over to Blackburn for a potential switch to the Lancastrians back in 2010. In his first league outing for his new employers Lewandowski recorded five shots and he will be chomping at the bit to get off the mark for Xavi’s side. Across the course of his final two league campaigns in Germany, the Polish striker bagged a remarkable 76 goals in just 63 appearances and can open his account in Spain on Sunday.

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