Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona Betting Tips

Both sides come into the game with 100% records but it is certainly the side from the capital who will be more content right now. They followed up an unspectacular 1-0 win at home to Las Palmas on the opening day with a thumping 3-0 win away to Sevilla, who are usually very strong at home.

They will approach this in confident mood and will be buoyed by the fact that Gerard Pique still missing through suspension, meaning Thomas Vermaelen is likely to again partner Javier Mascherano at the heart of the Barca defence and it will be the biggest test of his credentials so far. Claudio Bravo will also be missing with a calf injury for Barca but they have a more than able deputy in the shape of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who despite having won the Champions League, has yet to make his league debut for the club.

The Catalans are yet to hit the heights of last season, with 1-0 wins over Athletic Bilbao and Malaga leaving with two wins from their opening two games. Luis Enrique will be encouraged that the defensive problems that arose in the Super Cup matches seem to have been resolved and will be hopeful that his forwards will be sharper here after a slow start to the season.

The signs are good too. Neymar basically missed out on all of pre-season due to a virus after a late return from Copa America and was far from his best in the game with Malaga prior to the international break. However 2 goals in Brazil’s friendly win over USA in midweek and a couple more matches under his belt will have done him no harm at all. Lionel Messi also bagged 3 goals for Argentina over the past fortnight and we could see a much more fluent Barcelona showing on Saturday than in the first few weeks of the season.

Although Atletico spent heavily over the summer, the side that started in Seville last week were all at the club last season. Jackson Martinez may come back in for Fernando Torres to start up front here but basically it will be a very similar side and style to the one from last year.

Barcelona likewise will name an eleven very close to their preferred starting line-up last term and due to their transfer ban aren’t able to field any new signings. So with nothing radically different about either side it would be foolish to ignore the fact that Barcelona won all four meetings between the clubs last season and they look good value to do so again at 13/10 here.

It’s rare that they aren’t odds on to win a match these days and this could be an excellent chance to back them with much bigger returns on offer. Barcelona may not have been at their best so far but this side has always risen to the big challenges under Luis Enrique and were a class above everyone else in Spain and Europe last season. They have dropped just 2 points in their last 11 La Liga away games, which include that 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon in May when they claimed the title.

It’s unlikely to be a big win though and 3 of their 4 over Atletico last season were by just a single goal. Atletico have a lot of pace in their attack now with Jackson Martinez coming in for the aerial threat of Mario Mandzukic. They could cause one or two problems for Vermaelen and Mascherano who still have limited experience of playing together.

However a match-sharp Barcelona, which they should be now are always going to be a massive threat going forward and although they might concede, they are still well capable of scoring of goals. Therefore if you’re looking for a correct score bet consider going for a 2-1 away win at 8/1.