Barcelona vs Deportivo Alaves - Copa del Rey Final preview and odds

Published on: 27/05/2017

Barcelona vs Deportivo Alaves - La Liga preview and odds

May 27, 2017 20:30pm - Estadio Vicente Calderón

La Liga

Barcelona will seek to claim their third-straight Copa del Rey trophy when they take on this seasons surprise package Deportivo Alaves in the Spanish capital on Saturday night.

Last chance of silverware for Barca this season

Barcelona have had a disappointing season by their own high standards but will look to round it off by collecting the one piece of domestic silverware still available. The Catalan side have appeared in six of the last seven finals, winning three of them, including the last two in a row.

Luis Enrique`s men have rallied well since being dumped out of the Champions League by finalists Juventus, winning six league matches, including El Clasico at the Bernabeu. However, it was too little too late for the Blaugrana as they missed out on the league title by three points.

During that winning run, they scored at least three goals in every game and at least four goals in four of them, including seven at home to Osasuna. However, they only managed to keep a single clean sheet in that time.

Meanwhile, Deportivo Alaves also had a decent end to the season, winning four and drawing three of their last seven games to secure a ninth-place finish in the table. During that spell, they defeated Euro qualifiers Villarreal and Athletic Club de Bilbao. Mauricio Pellegrino`s side struggled to keep clean sheets during the run-in but only conceded more than one goal once in their last 13 matches.

The Basque Country side have already beaten Barcelona this term having edged a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou back in September. Critics may point to the absence of Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez in that game, but no other team came away from Barcelona with all three points in the league this season.

In the reverse fixture, Barca prevailed 6-0 in Vitoria although Mauricio Pellegrino fielded a much-changed line-up following his side`s Copa del Rey triumph over Celta de Vigo just three days earler.

Team news

Barcelona:

Suspended - Luis Suarez, Sergi Roberto

Recent form (League)

Barcelona: WWWWW

Deportivo Alaves: DWWWD

Betting odds and tips

Barcelona will rightly start as clear favourites but the minnows proved at the Camp Nou that they know how to frustrate their opponents and can be expected to use similar tactics again here. As a result, a five-man defence could be deployed in an attempt to snuff out the threat from midfield. It is also worth noting that Luis Suarez and Sergi Roberto are both suspended for this game.

Despite that, it is hard to make a case for another shock result here. Neymar and Messi are in great form and there is enough quality in the Barcelona squad to get the job done. Having scored at least three goals in each of their last six games, the Over 2.5 Goals bet actually looks good value, despite the short price of 4/9.

You can back Over 2.5 Goals at 4/9 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 27/05/2017

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (27/05/2017 11:01:50) but are subject to change.