Newcastle vs Barcelona prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-09-17 19:00.
[p]Newcastle are back in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) after a season’s absence and could scarcely have asked for a bigger first fixture than the visit of Barcelona.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Newcastle probably feel marginally more confident about facing the might of Barcelona after they picked up their first Premier League win of the season at the weekend by beating Wolves 1-0. That served as the perfect warm up for what feels like one of the biggest games in the club’s recent history as Eddie Howe’s men re-enter a competition in which they’ve struggled of late, winning just one of their last eight UCL games (D3, L4). They can take a crumb of comfort from the fact that sole win came at St. James’ Park when they beat PSG 4-1, and with six wins from their last eight home games in all competitions (L2), they do tend to excel on home soil.[/p]
[p]Reigning Spanish champions Barcelona have enjoyed a respectable start to their title defence this term, remaining unbeaten after four La Liga games (W3, D1) after they thumped Valencia 6-0 at the weekend. Balancing domestic and European duties is the next challenge they face, but the Spanish giants should be adept at overcoming that obstacle as this is their 30th successive season at Europe’s top table. On their 29 previous appearances in this competition, Barça have only been beaten on matchday one on three occasions (W20, D6), so their tendency to start quickly goes some way to explaining their warm favouritism here.   [/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]The four previous competitive H2Hs have been dominated by Barcelona (W3, L1), who have won each of the last three meetings. The Catalan giants have also won 12 of their last 16 UCL games against English opposition (D2, L2).[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Only one of Newcastle’s last seven competitive games saw both teams score. [/p]
[p]Newcastle conceded more than once in just one of their last ten European home games. [/p]
[p]Barcelona’s eight UCL league phase games last season averaged over five goals per match. [/p]
[p]Barcelona have scored after half-time in six successive UCL away games. [/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Nick Woltemade scored on his Newcastle debut at the weekend with just his second goal from his last eight at club level to arrive before half-time. Barcelona’s Marcus Rashford has been directly involved in eight goals in 11 career starts against Newcastle (G5, A3), including four in six starts at St. James’ Park (G2, A2). [/p]
[p]Newcastle will be without summer recruit Yoane Wissa, but Anthony Gordon is available as his suspension only applies to domestic games. Barcelona star Lamine Yamal missed their weekend clash, along with Frenkie de Jong and Gavi. [/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]With Barcelona’s UCL games typically providing great entertainment, backing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals seems the obvious pick. [/p]
[p][i]Author: Chris Wilson[/i][/p]