Barcelona vs. Espanyol 11/20/21 LaLiga Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Barcelona is welcoming Espanyol to Camp Nou in round 14 of the Spanish LaLiga. This is the first game for Barcelona in the Xavi era, and I think brighter days are ahead for this team. Espanyol has had a few solid results as of late, but they are still a bellow average team.

Barcelona has been horrible this season in LaLiga, well, in the Champions League as well, but with the new head coach, Barcelona should be looking much better soon. With only 17 points, 19 scored goals, and 15 conceded goals, Barcelona is in 9^th place, and the dreams of the title are now gone. As far as the Champions League goes, Barcelona was able to win their last 2 games, and with that, they have climbed to second place. The biggest problem for Barcelona is the lack of goals, and they have scored only 2 so far in the Champions League. In LaLiga, Depay is the leading goalscorer for Barcelona with 6 goals, while Alba added 4 assists. Barcelona was playing against Celta just before the international break, and even though they have had less possession, 48%, they have been effective, in the first half at least. Barcelona has also had 6 shots on goal, 1 corner kick, 1 big chance created, and 86% of the correct passes. Even though they were leading 0-3 at halftime, Barcelona conceded 3 goals in the second half, and the final score was 3-3. Another team whose next Champions League game will be crucial, and if they bean Benfica next week, Barcelona will secure the next stage.

Espanyol hasn’t been scoring a lot, only 14 goals in 13 games, but at the moment, Espanyol is in 11^th place, which is higher than Barcelona. Defensively, Espanyol has been quite solid with only 13 conceded goals. In their last game against Granada at home, Espanyol was the decent with 43% of ball possession, 6 shots on goal, 5 corner kicks, 4 big chances created, and 84% of the correct passes. It’s not like Granada is a tough opponent, but Espanyol did a solid job defending, they were patient, and they ended up winning this game 2-0. De Tomas has been in excellent form for Espanyol with 7 scored goals and 2 assists, and he will be in the starting lineup in this game as well. I know it seems right now that Espanyol belongs in the top half of the table, but I don’t think they will stay here much longer simply because they don’t have the depth, and their bench quality is not great.

This is the start of the new era for Barcelona, and I think they will start with a win. Yes, Barcelona still has a few injuries, they are playing in the Champions League, but they can’t afford to drop any more points in LaLiga. I’m taking Barcelona.