Barcelona vs Valencia

The Spotify Camp Nou is the venue as Barcelona and Valencia go head-to-head in an exciting La Liga encounter.

Back to La Liga action following a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie against arch-rivals Real Madrid, runaway leaders Barcelona are looking to bounce back from last weekend’s disheartening 1-0 loss at newly-promoted Almeria. It’s worth noting that the Catalan giants haven’t lost back-to-back league matches since October 2021 under Ronald Koeman, highlighting Xavi Hernandez’s impressive job at Camp Nou. They’re likely to maintain that trend against a Valencia side they’ve not lost to in any of their last six home meetings in La Liga (W4, D2). Yet to lose at home in the top flight this season (W9, D2), Barcelona can draw further confidence from conceding just once in their 11 league outings at Camp Nou.

On the other hand, Valencia eked out an all-important 1-0 home victory over Real Sociedad last weekend, arresting a woeful run of five straight La Liga defeats and could win back-to-back league outings for the first time this season. Having won a league third-low six games this entire season (D2, L15), it’s a little wonder the visitors start this round one point adrift of safety. Valencia’s travel sickness cannot inspire much confidence either, with ‘Los Che’ losing five consecutive top-flight away matches in the build-up o this trip, including the last four without scoring. Another reason for concern is their proneness to dropping points from winning positions, as they’ve spurned a league-high 19 in such fixtures this term.