La Liga preview and odds: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid

Published on: 29/01/2016

La Liga preview and odds: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid

January 30, 2016 15:00pm - Camp Nou

La Liga

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are level on points at the top of La Liga, but the Catalan club has a crucial game in hand.

Will they extend their lead, or will their rivals from the capital cancel out any potential advantage by taking all three points from their trip to the Camp Nou on Saturday?

Barca can take title race initiative

With all three of the chasing teams drawing on the last Match Day, Barcelona were able to claim top spot in the league, with the added bonus of having a goal in hand. They can capitalize on that advantage even further on Saturday by opening a three point lead over their closest rivals, Atletico Madrid.

Luis Enrique`s men have not lost at home in the league since February (Malaga) and have won all but one of their last 11 La Liga encounters at the Camp Nou - the exception being a 2-2 draw against Deportivo La Coruña.

They come into this game on the back of a narrow 2-1 away win at Malaga, in which Lionel Messi grabbed his 11th league goal of the season, in just his 13th start.

Atleti the defensive kings

Remarkably, Atletico Madrid have only conceded three goals away from home in La Liga all season. In total, they have kept eight clean sheets out of a possible 11 on the road, but they failed to win any of the three games in which they conceded (D1, L2).

Diego Simeone`s men come into this game on the back of a goalless draw at home to seventh-ranked Sevilla. They will hoping to record their first league win at the Camp Nou since 2006.

Team news

The home side will be Rafinha, while Jordi Alba may feature after a spell on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, the visitors will be hindered by the absence of Lucas Fernandez, Angel Correa, Fernando Torres and Tiago.

Recent form (League)

Barcelona: WWWDW

Atletico Madrid: DWWWW

Betting odds and tips

On the three separate occasions that Atletico Madrid have conceded away goals in the league this season, they have failed to win the game. On the eight occasions that they have kept clean sheets on the road, they have gone on to win the game.

Barca have scored in every home game, scoring 38 goals in the process. In addition, they have not lost at home to their rivals in the league since 2006. If any attacking unit can break down Atleti`s tight defensive pack, it is Barca`s.

You can back the home side to win at 8/15 with Betfred, and leading scorer Luis Suarez to score the first goal at 7/2 with Bet365

By Neil Morris

Published on: 29/01/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (29/01/2016 18:08:21) but are subject to change.