[table id=383 /]
[table id=384 /]
La Liga Game of the Week Odds: Barcelona odds v Sevilla
Barcelona looks to be back on track with two consecutive wins in La Liga. They face Inter Milan today In the UEFA Champions League where Lionel Messi may make a cameo appearance since getting re-injured against Villareal earlier this season. They face a Sevilla side who they are level on points with but ahead of them due to goal difference.
Barcelona at the moment remains without their greatest ever player, Lionel Messi, who’s been restricted to just two La Liga appearances this season. Without him, they haven’t fared as well as they should, as the reigning La Liga champions. They sit fourth in the table and have worryingly already conceded 10 league goals this season, the same amount as the bottom of the table Leganes.
Sevilla has faltered in recent weeks after an encouraging start but got back to winning ways last week with an exhilarating 3-2 win over Real Sociedad.
Barcelona has lost just one home game in the past two seasons, making it an almost impossible task for Sevilla to leave the Nou Camp with all three points. Therefore, sportsbooks has odds on a Barcelona win opening at -182. Odds on a Sevilla win open at +475, making them considerable underdogs.
A tie between the clubs open at +300.
Barcelona has done nothing but dominates this fixture in recent years. Not only have Barcelona won five of the last seven games against Sevilla, but Sevilla has won just two league games against Barcelona since 2007. That statistic took me back a little and just shows Barcelona’s dominance against good teams in La Liga over the years.
Barcelona Odds: How will Barcelona fare without Lionel Messi?
While Messi is reported to be fit for Barca’s match against Inter Milan tonight, they must not rush him back ahead of a long season for Barcelona. Their record without Lionel Messi doesn’t exactly spell for good reading.
Since November 2018, Messi has missed 12 games for Barcelona in all competitions and they’ve won just three games in his absence. Despite making Antoine Griezmann their most expensive signing and the return of Luis Suarez, they are still vulnerable and simply not as good when Messi is on the pitch.
Griezmann and Suarez both lead Barca with three league goals this season and at times, have had to rely on the youth of Carles Perez and Ansu Fati, the latter becoming the youngest player in La Liga history to score and assist in the same match at 16 years old when Barcelona defeated Valencia 5-2.
Regarding Sevilla, despite getting rid of last season’s top scorer in Wissam Ben Yedder, they’ve trouble scoring goals this season, however, they come up against a sort of bogeyman for them, in the form of Barcelona, who has owned them mentally and physically for more than a decade.
