Upcoming Match-ups

La Liga Betting – Elche vs. FC Barcelona

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:40 AM PST

Elche (+1400) vs. Barcelona (-600) (Draw +600)

After beating Atletico de Madrid (1-0) at the Copa del Rey, the competition eases for Barcelona, who travel to face Elche tomorrow at Martinez Valero Stadium (12:00 p.m. Eastern) in their 20th La Liga fixture.

The Catalans are heavy favorites to win, listed at -600 in the moneyline; the draw is +600, and an Elche victory will pay +1400.

In the standings, Barcelona are second in the league with 44 points (14-2-3) and a +39 goal difference. They are just one point back of Real Madrid, but Los Blancos have a game in hand.

In contrast, Elche are way down in 16th spot with just 17 points (4-5-10) and have a brutal -17 goal difference.

Barca and Elche met recently in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey; Barcelona cruised to easy victories in the two-game, home-and-home series (5-0 and 0-4). Those results were just the tip of the iceberg for Elche, who haven’t beaten Barcelona in league play since 1974 (losing ten and drawing four since that time).

A game against the porous Elche defense could be the perfect opportunity for striker Luis Suarez to get it going with his new club. Suarez has been a disappointment since transferring to Barcelona, scoring just twice in ten league appearances.

Despite Suarez’s early struggles as a member of the Catalans, manager Luis Enrique continues to believe in the embattled star. “I have complete confidence in my team, and complete confidence in Suarez,” said Enrique after the win against Atletico. “He didn’t have a lot of luck. He couldn’t find the net, but he played well and managed to push Atletico’s defenders back.”

Given their recent drubbings of Elche in the Copa del Rey, both home and away, take Barcelona to win by three.

(Photo credit: Lluís from Sabadell (Barcelona), España (LFS_13398) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)

Author Image