La Liga matches continued this week after the international break, and Valencia CF will be visiting FC Barcelona in what will most certainly be an eventful match. Neither team has looked particularly great, Valencia CF started off really good, but then after the loss to Real Madrid the team faltered and we had plenty of injuries, while FC Barcelona have been faltering since the start and they don't look too hot!
As you know FC Barcelona sold Lionel Messi in the summer and they can not over rely on him anymore to bail them out of tight situations! Ronald Koeman has been their coach for the past two seasons and he's probably part of the reason they are doing so poorly right now, as many of you remember he coached Valencia CF for one season and this terribly, almost coached VCF out of the first division.
So Valencia CF has a great chance to get away with a win on this visit against FC Barcelona and we have some of our players returning from injury, so that is a big boost to the team and we had plenty of time during the international break to prepare for this match.
Both Valencia CF and FC Barcelona are sitting on 12 points on the table and next to each other, so a win for either team would be a big boost, considering the difference on the table is still quite small and just 3 points can change the whole table and jump a team several places on the table.
FC Barcelona are also struggling with injuries and thus Pedri, Martin Braithwaite, Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Aguero are out for this match. For Valencia CF most of our injured players have recovered and should be available for selection, the only injured player we currently have is Piccini and Omar Alderete has accumulated a total of 5 yellow cards so he is suspended for this match!
Barcelona has a 13.6% shot conversion rate in La Liga their lowest since 2007-08 (13.5%), they are also very leaky at the back as well, and they've lost to very weak teams so far in La Liga, so they are not the powerhouse they once were and Valencia CF should be looking at this Barca just as any other team and looking to win.
Valencia CF Squad: Cillessen, Correia, Paulista, Diakhaby, Gaya; Soler, Hugo, Wass, Cheryshev; Gomez, Guedes
Winning Probability: FC Barcelona 45%, Draw 15%, Valencia CF 45%
Result Prediction: Most betting sites and preview predictions are saying that FC Barcelona is the clear favorite and that they are going to win, but I think Valencia CF also has a big chance to win tonight, FC Barcelona are leaky in the back, they also don't have proficient scorers right now without Aguero, so where are they better at than Valencia CF? They are still relying on Jordi Alba and Pique in defense and the slow Busquets in the middle. Both teams need a win here, so I think the chances of a draw are slim and don't work in anyone's favor, but I'm going to give the nod to Valencia CF here and say FC Barcelona 2-3 Valencia CF.