La Liga Odds: Barca Favored in Derbi barceloní
Barcelona (-900) vs Espanyol (+3000), Draw (+1100)
It’s an all-Catalonian affair this Sunday (Dec. 18) when Espanyol (5-7-3, 22 points) make the short commute to Camp Nou to take on rivals Barcelona (9-4-2, 31 points) for the sixteenth round of La Liga.
The Derbi barceloní has become a match with more political than sporting significance. The rivalry dates back to the 1920s and came to a boil during the Spanish Civil War. Today, the derby remains a bitter grudge match, though it bears more importance for Espanyol than Barcelona.
Of the 163 times the two teams have faced off, Barca have won 93, Espanyol have won 34, and 36 have ended in a draw. The Derbi barceloní is probably the most unbalanced derby that fans still care about.
The last time Espanyol defeated Barcelona was back in the 2008-09 season when they won at Camp Nou. But that was clearly an anomaly. Espanyol have only managed to beat Barcelona four times in the last twenty years.
Barcelona are coming off a 3-0 win against last-place side Osasuna, breaking their three-game streak of draws. Barca will be need a win against Espanyol if they are going to remain in contention for the title. First-place Real Madrid are currently six points clear in the standings and a greater lead at this point in the season would all but guarantee Real the title.
Espanyol are currently unbeaten in their last nine La Liga games, though five of those games were draws. Currently, they sit in ninth place yet are potentially just one win away from sixth.
As expected, the bookmakers put them at very slim odds. However, Espanyol have been uncharacteristically strong in their last few games. They defeated Sporting 2-1 in the last round, making it their fourth win in six games. And they also managed to wrestle draws from Atletico Madrid and Bilbao, successfully forcing a 0-0 gridlock in both games.
Whatever the outcome, we should expect a flurry of yellows, maybe some reds, and a bunch of violent tackles. The derby of late has been fraught with extremely dangerous tackles and reckless challenges, mostly coming from the Espanyol side.
On the scoreboard, expect it to be the same as it ever was.
Pick: Barcelona (-900)
Photo credit: “Messi” by Pedro CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
