La Liga: Barca Looking for Brighter Days Ahead

Alavés vs Barcelona

Despite the talent and quality disparity between these two clubs, Barcelona and Alaves aren’t far off from each other in the current La Liga standings.

The Catalan giants are in 12^th place with seven points and they are level with Alaves who are only three notches below them at 15^th.

Both of these teams have yet to hit their stride this season. Prior to this contest, they have lost two of their last four matches as part of their underwhelming starts.

While it is expected that Alaves are going to be struggling, it is quite unusual for the same thing to happen to Barcelona given their proud history and resume.

Much of their troubles can be attributed to the internal turmoil that they’ve been dealing over these past few months.

But with the departure of the embattled president Josep Bartomeu recently, now the players can fully focus on their play on the field.

Can the men from Camp Nou finally get it going by defeating Alaves on the road? Or will the home side spring a surprise upset this weekend?

Read on below as SBOTOP gives you the preview of this matchup.

opacity 0

CLICK HERE
TO SEE UPDATED ODDS

Bundesliga

Talking Points

A big dark cloud has been lifted over Barcelona

It has been a good week for Lionel Messi and co. given the La Liga 2020 news that have happened over in the last three days.

When Josep Bartomeu announced his departure on the eve of a pivotal meeting that will decide his inevitable fate, it seemed that the players over in Camp Nou looked more inspired when they faced off against Juventus in the Champions League group stage.

The Blaugrana simply outclassed the Bianconeri with a 2-0 victory thanks to an Ousmane Dembele goal in the first half and a late penalty by Lionel Messi.

Barcelona took advantage of a struggling Juventus squad who look lost given that their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo still tested positive for COVID-19 – to which he wasn’t happy about.

La Liga giants Barcelona are currently at the 12th spot in the table with 7 points — Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman commanding from touchline

Ronald Koeman praised his wards because of the said performance calling it their best performance so far in this season.

“This is a big win against an important European side and we were able to play the football we’re trying to impose,” said Koeman during the postgame interview.

“I’m very content with the football we played, with the result and especially with the character my team showed,” he added.

Now with momentum on Barca’s side, they are more than ready to assert their class here in La Liga, especially after they lost against their rivals in Real Madrid during the most recent El Clasico.

Alaves still finding their target

El Glorioso would need to find their shooting boots if they want to have a chance in beating Barcelona this Saturday night.

They are one of the league’s worst in terms of attacking with only five goals to show and that number has to go up.

Pablo Machin’s side is normally known as a gritty, defencive squad. However, their backline combination hasn’t been working either as they’ve already conceded eight goals so far.

So far, they’ve won against Valladolid and Athletic Bilbao, but they couldn’t get the job done against the likes of Real Betis, Granada, Getafe, Villarreal, Osasuna, and Elche.

Joselu was Alaves’ leading scorer last term with 11 goals, but so far he has only found the back of the net once.

History

Alaves and Barcelona have faced off in 24 matches already.

Barca dominate the overall head-to-head matchup with 18 wins while Alaves won in four along with two draws.

In their last four encounters, the Catalan giants have recorded three clean sheets along with a whopping aggregate tally of 14-1.

Betting Tip

	Alavés vs Barcelona	Barcelona Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 1.80
	November 1, 04:00 (GMT+8)

Ronald Koeman’s men are expected to win as per our La Liga 2020 odds.

Barcelona are priced to win at 1.47, while Alaves’ chances to win are pegged at 6.80 and a draw is at 4.20 in the 1X2 market.

The Catalan giants will definitely score some goals, but the cumulative fatigue in balancing their European and domestic campaigns might reduce their capacity for this game.

With Koeman having the option to rest some of their usual starters, I see Total Goal 2-3 @ 1.88 as a likely possibility as well. Meanwhile, choosing between Under 2.50 @ 2.21 and Over 2.50 @ 2.06 might be a tricky proposition.

The departure of Josep Bartomeu should definitely help Barcelona’s cause as they try to reclaim their lost glory this season.

I expect them to handle Alaves easily, and perhaps this may kickstart a special run for the Blaugrana this term.