Sporting vs Barcelona – Midweek breaks see Barca suffer
Published:They may be on a 16-match winning streak but Barcelona face a huge test when they travel to Gijon on Saturday night.
Sporting Gijon are the 14/1 outsiders to beat Barcelona and have taken just one point from the La Liga champions in their last 12 matches, but Pep Guardiola knows his side are in for a tough trip.
Barcelona win 78 per cent of their games usually, but following international breaks this drops to a real low of 49 per cent and the champions may be worth taking on at 1/6.
Admittedly, this is arguably the greatest side in world football at the moment and their win over Atletico Madrid last week was a La Liga record for consecutive wins – but it’s not often there is an excuse to take on Barcelona and this week may be it.
Barcelona have only edged their last two games with Sporting but 1-0 wins, and punters believing that this Barcelona side is unstoppable may want to take the 7/4 for under 2.5 goals.
Lionel Messi is the obvious contender to score, but Pedro has scored in each of Barcelona’s last six away trips in the league and is 3/1 to score first.
Racing Santander vs Sevilla
Sevilla look the value of the weekend in La Liga at 6/4 to beat Racing considering they have lost just once in their last 12 games at the El Sardinero.
Racing are 9/5 to beat Sevilla and are unbeaten in their last seven games at home but the last three have all ended in draws – available at 9/4.
The El Sardinero has seen fewer goals than any stadium in La Liga and a 1-0 Sevilla win is a tempting 7/1, as is the 12/5 for under 1.5 goals.
Racing struggle in front of goal and Sevilla clean sheet looks the pick at 15/8.
A £25 stake on Sevilla winning to nil would return £93.75. New customers can sign up here for a free bet worth £25.
