El Clásico brings us a clash of the titans in LaLiga on Sunday as Barcelona travel to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to take on Real Madrid at 3:15pm BST. It’s their first visit since their historic 4-0 win in the fixture in March, and coach Xavi Hernández will be keen to maintain that 100% record against Los Blancos in his second meetings with his club’s arch rivals and main competitors for the LaLiga title.
Barcelona currently top the standings but only on goal difference and that could all change, with LaLiga’s head-to-head comparison meaning that a win has much more meaning than just the three points.
Real Madrid v Barcelona Bet Builder Tips
Real Madrid to Win
Neither of these two teams come into this game in their best form, despite both only having dropped two points in LaLiga all season. Real Madrid were only 30 seconds away from defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk in Poland in midweek, but their mentality helped them to maintain their unbeaten streak across all competitions which stretches all the way back to last season.
How Barcelona can bounce back from more Champions League disappointment with a 3-3 draw against Inter in midweek could also prove crucial. Their defensive injury crisis means that Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araújo are both unavailable and Jules Koundé will be risked as he returns to fitness to replace Gerard Piqué after he failed to cover himself in glory against the Italians.
On home turf and with their lethal attack up against a shaky Barcelona defence, the reigning champions will expect to be the first team to breach Barcelona’s defensive set-up in six games. Should they do so, they will hope to outscore the visitors with attackers like Vinícius Júnior, Karim Benzema, Rodrygo Goes and Fede Valverde all among the goals early on this season.
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Prediction: Real Madrid to Win
Barcelona to Receive the Most Cards
The appointment of José María Sánchez Martínez suggests that this won’t be a Clásico littered with cards. Across his previous five Clásicos, he has shown just 3.2 yellow cards on average, which is actually less than his usual average of 5.5 bookings per game, as he really tries to let minor infractions go and to let a Clásico flow. Plus, he has only given one red card across his five Clásicos, which was the clearest of reds, given when Dani Carvajal saved a shot on the goalline with his hand.
So, don’t expect every slightly strong foul to result in a card. It’s more likely that Sánchez Martínez will only reach to his pocket for more serious tackles and for dissent. If Barcelona are losing, they’re much more likely to commit these types of offences in their desperation to win the ball back.
There have already been multiple games this season where Real Madrid have fed the ball to Vinícius in the closing stages when they’ve had the lead, using his incredible skill in tight spaces to either keep possession or to frustrate the opposition and entice them into kicking out. You can also see players like Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets over-complaining if they find themselves losing, earning themselves bookings for dissent. That happened in Sánchez Martínez’s last Clásico, when he booked Piqué for protesting too much as Real Madrid won 2-1 at the Camp Nou last October.
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Prediction: Barcelona to Receive the Most Cards
Vinicius Junior to have 1+ Shots on Target
Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior will be at the heart of Real Madrid’s offensive play on Sunday, as he has been throughout the season. With nine goal involvements, average 0.71 goal involvements per 90, he is likely to lead the charge against Barcelona with Karim Benzema yet to reach his best form.
He has averaged 1.64 shots on target per match this season and has registered at least one attempt between the goalposts in nine of his 11 matches started to date in 2022/23. He ranks as LaLiga’s fifth most prolific shooter to date this season, level with his position in the goalscoring charts with five goals from eight matches.
In addition, Vinícius was rested for the first time this season for the tie with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night and will come into this game with fresh legs up against a Barcelona defence which has been ravaged by injuries and which has had 24 hours less rest since being torn apart by Inter at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
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Prediction: Vinicius Junior to have 1 or more Shots on Target
Barcelona to have Over 3.5 Corners
With Raphinha and Ousmane Dembélé starting either side of Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona will look to play very wide and to get to the byline to put in their crosses towards the Polish striker. This has been a clear tactic all season long and has won Barça a lot of corners. Even if they’ve rarely made the most of them, the Catalan side have averaged 7.6 corners per game this season and they’ve always had at least four corners.
This Sunday, they’ll be going up against a Real Madrid side who are excellent at defending corners and whose defence would rather put the ball over the byline than risk a more dangerous open play ball into the penalty area. This has seen Real Madrid concede 3.92 corners per game on average, quite a high total when you consider how rarely their opponents have been able to attack them.
We saw Barcelona win 10 corners in total in their midweek game against Inter and the Italian side probably wish they’d conceded 11, as the opening goal came from a Raphinha pass along the byline that should have just been put out for a corner. The experienced defence of Real Madrid surely won’t make that same mistake.
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Prediction: Barcelona to have Over 3.5 Corners
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Predicted Line-ups
Real Madrid predicted XI (4-3-3) : Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius
Barcelona predicted XI (4-3-3) : Ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, E Garcia, Balde; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *
How to watch Real Madrid v Barcelona in La Liga?
📅 When is Real Madrid v Barcelona? / Sunday, 16th October 2022, 3:15PM
🏟 Where is Real Madrid v Barcelona? / Santiago Bernabeu (Madrid)
📺 What TV channel is Real Madrid v Barcelona on? / Premier Sports 1
🟨 …And who is the referee for Real Madrid v Barcelona? / J.M. Sanchez Martinez 🇪🇸
