CD Alaves vs Barcelona Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This is now a dress-rehearsal for the Copa del Rey final which will take place in May. Both sides won their Semi-Finals this week so it’s a chance for both teams to lay down a bit of a marker ahead of that game. Barca should be close to full strength but organised Alaves have become one of the toughest sides to beat in Spain and they look capable of making a really good game of this.

The Basque side have lost just 1 of their last 17 matches in all competitions. For a newly promoted club on their return to the top flight for the first time in a decade, that is exceptional. Even their defeat came courtesy of a last minute goal in a game where they were reduced to 10 men half-way through. Defensively they are very well organised with clean sheets in 11 of those 17 games. They’ve conceded just 1.05 goals per game in La Liga this term overall and that is the best defensive record outside the top six.

Further reasoning why Alaves could get a result here comes from how they’ve performed against the top sides this term. They’ve already held Atleti to two draws, won at Villarreal and of course famously won at Camp Nou earlier this campaign. If anything they’ve improved since then and although at times their attacking threat looks somewhat limited, they have a few players capable of hurting this Barcelona defence and scored 4 goals last weekend, despite making wholesale changes at Sporting Gijon.

Barcelona have been a bit inconsistent and there have been too many games where they haven’t been anywhere near their best. Another came in midweek when they were perhaps a little fortunate to get a 1-1 draw from their Copa del Rey Semi-Final 2nd Leg against Atleti, to progress into the final. Both teams have scored in 64% of their away matches too which suggests Alaves will get a few chances in this game and the Basques are strong enough at the back to prevent Barcelona from running away with it.

One man who will be keen to put in a performance here is Luis Suarez. His controversial red card in midweek is set to rule him out of the Copa del Rey final but he did net in that game and has done so in 7 of his last 9 Barcelona appearances so backing Luis Suarez to score anytime at 4/6 could be worth a bet.

Overall though Alaves are likely to sit very deep and make life difficult for Barcelona’s creative players, which is a strategy that has served them well and backing CD Alaves +1.50 Asian Handicap at 39/40 could be the way to go here, given how tough to beat they’ve been and given Barcelona are still struggling to find their best football.