Barcelona vs Valencia Odds & Prediction – La Liga Round 9

• Barcelona welcome Valencia to Camp Nou on Sunday
• The Catalans are a heavy -190 favorite on home soil
• Find the odds, preview, and prediction below

Following the conclusion of the international break, La Liga matchday 9 brings an intriguing clash on Sunday between Barcelona and Valencia at Camp Nou. Kick-off is scheduled for 3pm ET. Both sides have been in poor form, with the Catalans losing back-to-back matches, while Valencia is winless in four games.

Barca got the better of Los Che in their most recent encounter, running out as 3-2 winners in May. However, they played to a 2-2 draw at the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign.

Barcelona vs Valencia Odds

All odds as of October 15th at DraftKings.

Can Barca Find a Result?

Things truly couldn’t be any worse for the La Liga giants at the moment. Ronald Koeman’s side is in unfamiliar territory, currently sitting ninth in the table and failing to show any type of consistency on the pitch.

While Barca has only lost once domestically, it was a disappointing 2-0 defeat to rivals Atletico Madrid just before the international break. Just days prior, Barcelona also lost 3-0 to Benfica in Champions League action.

In fact, the club looks to be in real danger of even progressing out of the group stages of Europe’s most prized competition. They’ve tasted defeat in both of their games thus far, also falling to Bayern, 3-0. Koeman was expected to be sacked after the Atletico clash but Barcelona has evidently given the Dutchman more time to turn the ship around.

Although the Catalans aren’t in great spirits right now, all is far from lost. Koeman’s men have 12 points and are just five behind Real Madrid, who is currently in top spot in the Spanish top flight.

However, Barca possesses a game in hand.  Following this Valencia encounter, Barca locks horns with Dynamo Kyiv mid-week in Europe then hosts Madrid for the always epic El Clasico next Sunday. While a result is desperately needed here, the next week is just as important.

⚠️ Sergio Agüero is expected to make his long-awaited debut for Barcelona against Valencia this weekend.

• His return will allow Koeman's team to take a quality team and provide more attacking options.#FCB 🇦🇷

Via: @sport pic.twitter.com/lxfDODgB9h

— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) October 12, 2021

Blaugrana will be handed a major boost in the final third, with Sergio Aguero available to make his debut for the club this weekend while Ousmane Dembele could be fit to feature as well.

Midfield maestro Pedri, who was just awarded a hefty new contract, is out with an injury though. Ronald Araujo is also sidelined. Memphis Depay will be looking to break his dry spell after a smashing start to the campaign, scoring just once in his last six appearances.

Barcelona vs Valencia Key Stats

Valencia Struggling

Los Murciélagos looked very good to begin the season, collecting eight points of a possible 12 through their first four matches. However, it’s been downhill ever since for Valencia. The side lost consecutive games to Madrid and Sevilla, then most recently, drew with Athletic Bilbao and Cadiz.

They’re currently level on 12 points with their matchday 9 counterparts, bagging 12 goals and conceding eight.

🎙️ @jose_gaya: “If we want to win at the Camp Nou then we have to run much more than Barça”

— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) October 14, 2021

However, Jose Bordalas’s squad has been toothless in the final third recently, finding the back of the net only once in the last two appearances. Their dismal form is far from ideal considering Valencia finished in 13th place last term, their lowest position in La Liga in over 30 years. However, they’ve played relatively well away from Mestalla in 2021-22, tasting defeat just once in four games.

🏋🏽‍♂️ Intense session to prepare for #BarçaValencia 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/Qx9ZpD4FMq

— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) October 14, 2021

Valencia tends to show a lot more ruthlessness up top at Camp Nou, scoring 14 goals in eight matches since 2013/2014, the highest total of any club in the top flight against Barcelona. In fact, Los Che has netted at least twice in six of those meetings. Bordalas’s side will be getting an integral piece of their attack back as well, with Maxi Gomez set to return to the starting XI after serving a suspension. The Uruguayan will likely join strike partner Goncalo Guedez as a front two.

Barcelona vs Valencia Prediction

Although Barca has won just twice in their last five meetings with Valencia, the likes of Sergio Busquets, Gavi, and Memphis are coming off some wonderful individual performances for their countries. That doesn’t necessarily translate to success at the club level, but it should help with the confidence of the team. It will be close, but the hosts will pull out the three points in thrilling fashion.

Pick: Barcelona to Win by 1 (+205)