Valencia vs Barcelona preview

September 20, 2011
By: Frank Beresford

Three rounds into the La Liga season and it is not Barcelona or Real who are leading the race, but rather Valencia, the team that have a great chance to prove their title credentials against the mighty Catalans.

Any other team that have seen players like Villa, Silva and Mata leave the club in quick succession would be expected to struggle the following season, but not Valencia.

Led by talented coach Unai Emery and with the help of new arrivals Rami, Canales, Ruiz and Piatti, los Che enjoyed a bright start to the league campaign, winning all three league games.

What is even more impressive is that Valencia managed to keep three successive clean sheets in all competitions, which gives the hosts reason for optimism before the arrival of the best attack in the world.

All things considered, los Che look more than capable of getting at least one point from this game, meaning there is a good value in odds of 2.95 (39/20) offered by Unibet on Valencia not to lose.

With La Liga top scorer Roberto Soldado expected to recover from a foot injury, Unai Emery should have fully fit squad to choose from.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Guaita – Miguel, Ruiz, Rami, Mathieu – Banega, Albelda – Hernandez, Canales, Jonas – Soldado.

Boosted by the arrivals of Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona started the season well, recording convincing wins over Porto and Villarreal in their two opening games.

However, the Catalans then squandered a two-goal lead against Real Sociedad before missing a chance to beat Milan in Champions League.

Pep Guardiola’s side was, therefore, expected to show a response in their home game against Osasuna, and they certainly couldn’t have done much better than the 8:0 win at Camp Nou.

The morale boosting win was just what the team needed before difficult games against Valencia and Atletico Madrid, so the Catalans are obviously looking to continue the good run at Mestalla.

Barca are 1.44 (4/9) favourites with Ladbrokes to win this clash, but I don’t think there is value in backing the visitors here.

Gerard Pique finally resumed full training after recovering from a muscle injury, but he will not be in contention, just like Alexis Sanchez and Andres Iniesta, who remain sidelined.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Valdes – Dani Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Abidal – Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas – Pedro, Messi, Villa.

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