Barcelona vs Valencia prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-04-28 19:00.
[p]A last-gasp 3-2 El Clasico defeat last weekend all-but ended Barcelonaâs hopes of retaining their La Liga crown, with the Blaugrana trailing Real Madrid by 11 points with six games of the season remaining. The only positive to come out of a week in which they also crashed out of the UEFA Champions League was manager Xavi HernĂĄndez announcing a U-turn and deciding to stay beyond the end of this season.[/p]
[p]His primary focus between now and the end of the campaign will be securing a second-placed finish for Barça, with next weekâs clash with Girona looming large in that respect. They canât look too far ahead, but Barcelona are bound to be confident ahead of the visit of Valencia, a side theyâre unbeaten against on their own turf since April 2016 in league H2Hs(W5, D2). [/p]
[p]Valencia head into the weekend just a point adrift of the top-seven and with European qualification still a distinct possibility. A 2-1 defeat to Real Betis dented those aspirations however, leaving Los Ches staring down the barrel of losing back-to-back league games for the first time since October.[/p]
[p]Without a H2H win in the league since January 2020, their chances of avoiding such a fate certainly look bleak. Valencia have at least won back-to-back away league matches âto nilâ, and could secure a third consecutive such victory for the first time since November 2017 – last doing so with three shutouts way back in November 2009.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Marc-André ter Stegen only has two clean sheets in 14 league games against Valencia, but both came in his last two H2Hs. Hugo Duro could look to strike first against the Barcelona stopper, as his last six league goals have been the match opener for Valencia.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Seven of Valenciaâs last eight away league games have seen at least one side fail to score.[/p]