La Liga: High-Flying Girona Welcome Barcelona for Catalan Derby

Girona FC vs Barcelona

After a lengthy break to play in cup competitions, Barcelona are back in La Liga action this weekend. And they will be welcomed back by neighbours Girona for a Catalan derby.

Barca currently have a three-point lead over rivals Real Madrid atop the table, and they will look to extend that lead before Real play a day later.

However, Girona have been one of the surprises of the La Liga season thus far and will look to defy the La Liga 2023 betting odds on home turf.

Talking Points

Barcelona keep winning but a bit unconvincing

Barcelona have picked up right where they left off from last year. They’ve won their first two La Liga games of 2023 to open up a three-point lead over Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, they’ve won a handful more games in the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey, including a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad thanks to an Ousmane Dembele goal. They have now won 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions.

Although, they were not all that impressive in their narrow 1-0 wins over Atletico Madrid and Getafe. Xavi even publicly criticised his side’s performance in their win against Getafe, admitting that the team did not play well.

Xavi was once again without leading scorer Robert Lewandowski, who was serving the second of his three-match suspension, as well as Ferran Torres, who is also serving a three-match ban for his red card against Atleti.

With both Lewy and Torres unavailable, Xavi has turned to young Ansu Fati to lead the line in the last two games, but he has not looked all that effective in the position. But with Memphis Depay moving on to Atletico Madrid, Xavi will have little option but to stick with Fati for at least one more game.

Barcelona have an outstanding away record this season, with seven wins in eight. Their lone defeat came in El Clasico against Real Madrid.

Girona doing great on return to top flight

Girona are going strong in their first season back in La Liga. The Gironistes are currently up in 11th, ahead of more established sides such as Valencia and Sevilla.

Girona just beat Sevilla 2-1 as they continued their strong home form. They are now five games unbeaten at the Estadi Montivili, with two wins and three draws.

And they came so close to picking up another point away to Villarreal last time out despite going down to 10 men for the last 12 minutes. However, they conceded a late penalty as Daniel Parejo stole the win in the 100th minute, which snapped their seven-game unbeaten run of La Liga 2023 results (3 wins, 4 draws).

Centre-back Santiago Bueno, who has started all 18 games thus far, was sent off in that match, and he will now serve a one-game suspension against Barca.

Girona have had their problems defensively this season; they have conceded 28 goals, tied for the fourth-most in the league.

However, they have been surprisingly prolific despite lacking a reliable goal-scoring centre-forward. They have scored 26 goals, which is fifth in La Liga. 36-year-old Cristhian Stuani leads the team with five goals in just five starts (14 appearances overall).

History

This will be the fifth time Girona and Barcelona will meet in La Liga. Unsurprisingly, Barca have not lost their previous four matches, with three wins and a draw.

Barcelona have been absolutely dominant in Catalan derbies in recent years. They have not lost any of their last 29 La Liga matches against Catalonian teams, with 21 wins and 8 draws.

Betting Tip 

Unsurprisingly, SBOTOP odds have Barcelona installed as 1.56 favourites to win yet another Catalan derby. But perhaps a bit surprising is that Girona are priced at 5.40 to get a home win over the La Liga leaders, while a draw is 4.10.

While Girona’s games are tied for the highest number of goals in La Liga this season (54), this derby against Barcelona may be a lower-scoring affair.

Barca are not exactly banging in the goals without Lewandowski, and they may continue to struggle away from home. But on the other end, their defence has proven to be by far the best in Spain, and they will like their chances of keeping a clean sheet.

 

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.