Barcelona v Atletico Madrid Betting Tips: All eyes on Camp Nou in title race
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The biggest game of the weekend on the continent undoubtedly takes place at Camp Nou where Barcelona are 4/5 to beat long-time Liga leaders Atletico and move to the top of the table.
The season has reached a thrilling climax in a three-horse race for the title in which the Catalans are 11/8, Atletico 13/8 and Real Madrid 9/4 in the outright markets.
We’ve marked your card by looking at some of the trends with our Barcelona v Atletico Madrid betting tips.
Match Odds
None of the main contenders seem to want to win La Liga this season with all three teams suffering shock defeats or drawing against lowly opposition recently, so who knows what to expect on Saturday afternoon?
Barcelona lost 2-1 at home to Granada four days after Atletico were beaten by Athletic Bilbao, while Real Madrid shared a goalless draw at Getafe, a scoreline they repeated at home to Betis.
Although Ronald Koeman’s side are firm favourites, Yannick Carrasco gave Atletico a 1-0 win when they met in the Spanish capital in November and they are 10/3 to take a massive step towards the title by completing the double and 13/5 to draw which would suit them were Real Madrid not waiting in the wings to overtake them with their better head-to-head record.
Atletico have had a few bumps and bruises on the road lately and Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Elche was their first win in five away from home.
With so much at stake both teams to score is 7/10, but Diego Simeone will have his defence well drilled as usual having kept the most number of clean sheets this season, 17 from 34 games.
At least one team not to score is evens, but can they shut out a Barcelona team that have failed to score just twice this season?
Although last season’s fixture ended 2-2, six of the last seven meetings have involved two goals or fewer which is 10/11 in the Barcelona v Atletico Madrid odds.
Atleti striker Luis Suarez faces his former club for the first time and is 4/1 to score in an away win having bagged 19 goals this season.
Talking Tactics
Barca’s head coach Koeman was handed a two-match for his red card against Granada and will not be in the dug-out for this crucial game, pending an appeal, so it’s already advantage Simeone from the get-go.
Koeman went with a 3-1-4-2 formation for Sunday’s 3-2 comeback win at Valencia, where Sergio Busquets played the holding midfielder role and Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann led the attack.
Simeone opted for an attacking 3-4-2-1 system for the win at Elche, but played five at the back for the win against Barcelona, something he may try again.
Goalscorer Odds
Messi has scored doubles in five of his last nine games and is priced at 7/2 to score at least two, although he is 3/4 to get on the scoresheet and 23/10 to break the deadlock.
Strike partner Griezmann has not been as prolific but he is ending the season on a high with seven goals in his last nine appearances in all competitions, and he is 13/8 to find the net and 4/1 to open the scoring.
All eyes will be on Suarez who is 9/2 to put Atletico in front and 17/10 to score any time against the club he was loathe to leave.
Match Info
Where: Camp Nou
When: 15:15, Saturday 8th May
How to watch: Premier Sports
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
