Barcelona vs Slavia Praha
After a disappointing draw at Dortmund to begin their Champions League campaign, Barcelona find themselves top of Group F after back-to-back wins over Inter Milan and Slavia Praha.
Although, Barca should consider themselves fortunate for coming away from Prague with all three points as their performance was anything but convincing.
Moreover, Barcelona will head into this match on the back of another wildly disappointing defeat in La Liga over the weekend.
Slavia have been highly competitive in all three of their Champions League matches thus far and showed that they have the ability to take the game to Barca.
However, they will have their work cut out for them at the Camp Nou, where the Blaugrana will be massive favourites according to the Champions League 2019 odds.
Talking Points
Another big Barca stumble
As it turns out, even Lionel Messi can’t quite solve Barcelona’s problems away from home. Despite Messi firing Barca in front from the penalty spot, they still suffered a shocking 3-1 defeat away to Levante over the weekend.
It was a listless attacking performance from Barca, who could only muster nine shots in total. Luis Suarez was subbed off in the first half against Levante after suffering a calf injury, which will likely see him miss out against Slavia Praha.
Barcelona have won just three of their eight away matches thus far this season, with three defeats and two draws.
However, it’s been a different story at the Camp Nou. They’ve won all six of their home games while scoring at least four goals in four of those contests.
Suarez has scored in four of the last five home games, including a spectacular brace to beat Inter back in Matchday 2.
With Suarez out, either Carles Perez or teen sensation Ansu Fati will likely step into the starting XI. Fati has been unable to recreate the impact he made earlier in the season, where he scored in back-to-back La Liga matches.
Antoine Griezmann could also get his opportunity to create some Champions League 2019 highlights while playing in the centre in place of Suarez. The French forward continues to underwhelm at Barca, but perhaps a move from the wing will help him get more involved in the attack.
Unlucky Slavia continue to compete
Slavia Praha will consider themselves desperately unlucky to have just one point to show for three laudable Champions League performances thus far.
They were arguably the better side against Inter Milan at San Siro, and the Italians needed a stoppage-time goal to salvage a 1-1 draw. They also played well against Dortmund — they had a 16-9 shot advantage — but were caught out twice and suffered a 2-0 defeat.
And most surprising of all, they vastly outplayed Barcelona in their first meeting at home as they dominated the shot battle, 24-13. But they failed to take their chances and were eventually undone by an own goal.
Slavia have since bounced back from that loss to Barca by beating Viktoria Plzen — their closest challenger in the Czech league this season — 1-0 away and thrashing Banik Ostrava 4-0 at home over the weekend.
Midfielder Tomas Soucek bagged a brace against Banik, giving him five goals in his last five appearances.
With Barcelona much more aggressive at home, Slavia will need to be much more clinical in front of goal to stand any chance of getting a positive result at the Camp Nou.
History
History will very much be against Slavia Praha in their trip to the Camp Nou. That’s because Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 33 Champions League home matches, which is a tournament record.
Moreover, they have won their last five matches against Czech clubs, scoring 15 goals and conceding just two. They’ve also won five of their six home games against Czech opposition, scoring 18 and conceding two.
Betting Tip
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Barcelona vs Slavia Praha | Slavia Praha Asian Handicap +2.00 @ 1.88 |
| November 06, 01:55 (GMT+8) |
Despite Slavia Praha’s impressive performances in this year’s competition, they will still be one of the biggest underdogs of the round for their visit to the Camp Nou.
SBOBET odds have them priced at a massive 11.00 to score the upset over Barca, with the hosts 1.20 favourites. A draw is 6.60.
I fully expect Barcelona to put their awful result against Levante behind them by beating Slavia Praha once again.
However, I anticipate that the Czechs will once again be a handful for their hosts and lose by a respectable margin at the Camp Nou.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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