Barcelona face Almería, away from home, this Sunday, at 2:30 pm (Brasília time), in a match valid for the 23rd round of La Liga 2022/23. The Catalan team returns to attention for the Spanish Championship after the elimination in the Uefa Europa League in the middle of the week.
Xavi’s charges lead La Liga with 59 points, seven ahead of vice-leader Real Madrid, who drew in the round with Atlético de Madrid. Barça have the chance to further extend their lead at the top. Dembelé, Pedri and Ansu Fati (injured), remain outside the team.
Owner of the house, the Almería team comes from a negative sequence. In addition to the three consecutive defeats, the Andalusian team comes from a 6-2 defeat against Girona in the last round of La Liga. Almería is penultimate in the table, with 22 points conquered.
Both teams score
Barcelona can be considered by many as the best team in La Liga and who play the best football. But, despite Almería’s chaotic situation, the team has the eighth best campaign at home, with an average of 1.72 goals scored. In their last six games, five had goals scored by both sides. Thus, the trend should be repeated in this confrontation.
Barcelona and over 1.5 goals
Barcelona’s last defeat was to Manchester United by 2-1 in the Europa League. With the result, the club said goodbye to European competition. In the Spanish Championship, the last defeat was in the classic against Real Madrid. In that period, there are 14 wins and four draws in 18 matches. Therefore, Barça is the big favorite in the duel, with a triumph by two or more goals.
More than 2.5 goals
Almeria has eight straight games conceding goals. In addition, four of the last five clashes ended with at least three balls in the net. Due to the team’s defensive fragility, the duel between the two teams should have more than two goals.
