Valencia vs Barcelona prediction: SPAIN: Copa del Rey betting tips on match 2025-02-05 20:30.
[p]Valencia beat Celta Vigo 2-1 on Sunday to boost their hopes of La Liga survival in what was a perfect response to the 7-1 drubbing the week prior at the hands of Barcelona, who they face again in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. While top-flight survival takes precedence, securing redemption against a club that also defeated them 7-0 in this competition as recently as 2015/16 seems a far-fetched possibility.[/p]
[p]A barren winless H2H run since January 2020 (D2, L8) serves to emphasise the size of the task at hand for Carlos Corberán’s side, who are bidding to reach the semi-finals of this competition for the first time since 2021/22. Consecutive wins at Estadio de Mestalla will have lifted the spirit of home fans, but Los Ches haven’t won three competitive home games in a row in a single season since March 2021![/p]
[p]Barcelona defeated Alavés 1-0 on Sunday to narrow the gap at the top of the league after Real Madrid surprisingly lost 1-0 against Espanyol. Hansi Flick’s men are unbeaten this calendar year (W7, D2), a sequence that has seen them win the Supercopa de España, and Barça will be eyeing another shot at silverware in the Copa del Rey, where they hold the record for the most titles (31), although they last lifted the cup in 2020/21.[/p]
[p]The Catalans have been in confident mood on the road in recent times, racking up a nine game unbeaten run in competitive games (W6, D3). Goals could be the order of the day as Barcelona have failed to score in just one of their 19 trips this season, with eight of those matches seeing Barça score 4+ goals, which is ominous news for the hosts who have already taken a hefty H2H beating this year.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Hugo Duro scored Valencia’s only goal in the 7-1 loss, making it a third H2H game in a row where he netted their opener, although all three games ended in defeat. Robert Lewandowski scored Barcelona’s sixth goal in that 7-1 thumping, making it six goals in the last three H2Hs, while he also scored their winner at the weekend.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Valencia have scored in 28 of their last 29 home games in Copa del Rey, but the sole failure came against Barcelona in 2018.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Sridhar B[/i][/p]