Barcelona vs Malaga Betting Tips

Malaga are 25/1 to win this match but they were one of two clubs to win at the Camp Nou in the league last season. They were though beaten by exactly 3 goals on each of their previous 4 trips to play the Catalans prior to that 1-0 success in February.

However Malaga underwent a major change in personnel and style last season and for the most part it paid off. They had the joint worst goalscoring record in the top 12 and have since lost star striker Juanmi but were typically were strong at the back and if their opening day 0-0 draw with Sevilla is anything to go by that looks set to continue.

Javi Gracia’s side lined up in a 4-4-2 formation against their Andalusian rivals on the opening day which is rare in this day and age and it was also the formation that saw them to an unlikely 3 points in Barcelona last season. However their two central midfielder Sergi Darder and Fernando Tissone like to sit very deep and they can be very difficult to break down as Barca found to their cost last season.

The Catalans improved on their Super Cup showings when they won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on the opening day but it was still a far from fully fluent display. Gerard Pique is still suspended here but Neymar is back in training and could return although is unlikely to play the full 90 minutes.

Surely lightening won’t strike twice in the space of 6 months for Malaga at the Camp Nou. Barcelona are highly unlikely to be so wasteful again but against stubborn opposition who rarely see themselves on the end of heavy defeats, backing Barcelona to win but there to be under 3.5 goals at 21/20 is where the value lies here.

It might be a few weeks before everything clicks back into gear for Barcelona and we start seeing them win games at an absolute canter. However they will completely dominate the ball here and given Malaga have been weakened further in an attacking sense by some of their summer departures, it is hard to see them scoring. Therefore a solid 2-0 Barcelona win is likely here and can be backed at 9/2.