Barcelona vs Chelsea Predictions

For Spanish champions Barcelona, this will be the first game of pre-season, though Chelsea have already been in action. Since Frank Lampard took the reins, the Blues have played three, of which they’ve lost one, drawn one and won one. Having lost against Japanese outfit Kawasaki last time out, Chelsea will be looking to resume winning ways and thus build momentum ahead of the upcoming campaign.

They’re yet to get down to business on the pitch, but it’s been a busy summer period for Barcelona in the transfer market. The La Liga champions have bolstered their attacking option by bringing in World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann from Atletico, while the Spanish giants have also added to their creativity by acquiring the highly rated Frenkie de Jong from Ajax. Brazilian Goalkeeper Neto has joined from Valencia.

There’s also been comings and goings at Chelsea. Eden Hazard finally swapped Stamford Bridge for the Bernabeu, while Gonzalo Higuain returned to Juventus. In the other direction, Christian Pulisic completed his move from Dortmund. The Blues also opted to make the signing of Mateo Kovacic permanent.

On the pitch, it’s been a mixed bag for Chelsea in pre-season; they kicked things off with a draw against Irish side Bohemians, before easily beating St. Patricks. Such a win should’ve given the Blues a platform from which to build against Japanese side Kawasaki, but they were unable to make much headway, as they lost by a goal to nil.

From a betting point of view, this is certainly not a game to get overly excited about. Barcelona are yet to play in pre-season, while Chelsea have been up and down in three friendlies, so there’s not a great deal to go on. That said, those who are interested in a punt on this fixture could do worse than backing a win for the Spanish side, who look slightly big in the betting.

Barcelona may not have played in pre-season yet, but their quality is undisputed, while they have a good recent record in friendlies, winning six out of their last seven. If we add in the fact that Chelsea flattered to deceive against Japanese opposition just a few days ago, then backing Barcelona to make a winning start to their pre-season campaign looks a like a reasonable option at the prices.