Espanyol vs. Barcelona Spanish La Liga Predictions, Picks and Betting Tips 7-8-2020

by Jon Bateman - 7/7/2020

Espanyol (5-9-20) vs. Barcelona (22-7-5)

Spanish La Liga soccer on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 16:00 ET

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain

The Line: Espanyol +1601/ Draw +633/ Barcelona -714; O/U 3.25

TV: Digi Sport 1, Eleven Sports 1, Spiler2 TV

Barcelona (WDDWD) will host Espanyol (LLLLL) in round 35 of the Spanish La Liga Santander on Wednesday, July 08, 2020, at Camp Nou.

Barcelona heads into round 35 of the league unbeaten in eight La Liga games. Having outscored opponents at home in the league this season by more than 3.5 goals to one, a solid win for the host seems likely. Barcelona occupies the second position with 73 points, 4 points behind Real Madrid, who is looking to claim their 34th league title. Overall, Barcelona has recorded 22 wins, 7 draws, and 5 losses. In their last time out, Barcelona ended their stalemate spell after brutally defeating Villarreal by 4 goals to one. In the match, Villarreal’s defender, Pau Francisco Torres, netted an own goal after attempting to intercept an offensive pass in the 3rd-minute of the game. In the 14th minute, Gerard Moreno scored an equalizer for Villarreal from a close-range rebound. However, the restless Quique’s side got back on the lead and ended the first half of the game in 3-1. Finally, Ansu Fati scored a late winning goal for Barcelona to seal their three-point lead over Villarreal. So far this season, Barcelona has recorded 78 goals, 58 assists, 410 shots out of which 198 are on-target. They have also recorded 83 yellow cards and 2 yellow card bookings.

Despite Ousmane Dembele, Umtiti, and Frank de Jong’s absence due to injury, Barcelona’s forward group is heavily fortified with key players, including Lionel Messi and Luiz Suarez. The Argentine forward has recorded 22 goals and 19 assists, the highest in the league. He has also recorded 134 shots and 63 shots on-goal. Luiz Suarez follows him with 14 goals and 8 assists, second-highest in the team. In front of the net for Barcelona is Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The German professional goalkeeper has conceded 5 goals in three previous matches, increasing his total goals allowed to 33. Ranked 5th behind Courtois, Oblak, and Soria, Stegen has recorded an average of 1.03 goals allowed per 90 minutes in 32 appearances. He has also recorded 69 saves and 12 clean sheets for Barcelona this season.

In contrast, Espanyol is still struggling at the bottom of the table with 24 points, extending their winless run to six games in their last time out and losing streak to 5 games. Still drowning in relegation trouble, Espanyol has woeful previous game records with only 2 goals scored and 8 goals conceded in their previous six games. Overall, Espanyol has recorded 5 wins, 9 draws, and 20 losses. In their last game, Espanyol suffered a woeful lone goal defeat to Leganes. Jonathan Silva scored the only goal in the 53rd minute of the game. So far this season, Espanyol has scored 27 goals and recorded 18 assists, 311 shots and 127 shots on-target, 111 yellow cards and one red card booking.

The key player leading Espanyol’s forward group is Raul De Tomas. The 25-year-old Spanish forward has recorded 4 goals since his debut in February. He has also recorded 26 shots and 13 shots on-target in 11 appearances. Diego Lopez will make his 33rd appearance in front of the net for Espanyol. Lopez has allowed 53 goals for the struggling team and an average of 1.66 goals per 90 minutes in 32 appearances. Although the Spanish goalkeeper has recorded 96 saves, he has zero penalties save percentage and only 4 clean sheets so far this season.

Barcelona’s head-to-head stat against Espanyol is quite impressive. They have lost only one game and secured 6 wins in 10 previous meetings with Espanyol. The last game between both teams ended in a two-goal draw at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium earlier this season. Barcelona has the best home record in La Liga, securing 15 wins out of 17 home games. Also, Barcelona has not lost any game at the Camp Nou this season. In contrast, Espanyol’s away game record is very unimpressive. They have won only three out of 17 away games played this season.

Predicted LineUp

Barcelona

Coach: Quique Setién

Goalkeeper: Marc-Andre ter Stegen

Players: Jordi Alba, Clement Lenglet, Gerard Piqué, Nélson Cabral Semedo, Arturo Vidal, Sergio Busquets, Riqui Puig, Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi

Espanyol

Coach: Abelardo Fernández

Goalkeeper: Diego Lopez

Players: Javi Lopez, Bernardo Espinosa, Leandro Cabrera, Didac Vila, David Lopez, Marc Roca, Óscar Melendo, Sergi Darder, Adrián Embarba and Raúl de Tomás

Prediction: Take Barcelona

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Espanyol vs. Barcelona Spanish La Liga Predictions, Picks and Betting Tips 7-8-2020

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