La Liga: Can Barcelona Remain Unbeaten Under Xavi?

Barcelona vs Real Betis

The mood around Camp Nou seems to have shifted from hopeless to hopeful since Xavi has arrived in town.

Since replacing Ronald Koeman at the coaching helm, Xavi is steering Barcelona to a better direction and they’ll be looking to make a late run at this season’s La Liga title. 

Barcelona have ways to go since they’re only at the seventh spot with 23 points. But if they’ll maintain their flawless start under Xavi, they may be on to something here.

On the other hand, their visitors in Real Betis seems to have a better chance because they’re at fifth place with 27 points. Los Verdiblancos are currently enjoying a two-game win streak and they’ll be keen on moving up with yet another victory.

With momentum on their side, Barcelona are the favoured side in this matchup and football fans can expect La Liga 2021 highlights from this contest given the wealth of talent from these two teams.

Read on below as SBOTOP takes a look into these two proud sides.

Talking Points

Barcelona making strides under Xavi

The hiring of Xavi has been paying dividends for Barcelona, although they still have a mountain to climb to eventually reach their ideal destination.

Barcelona are undefeated in their last three games, with their 3-1 win over Villarreal last Sunday being their best result under their former midfielder.

In the said fixture, Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, and Philippe Coutinho all found the back of the net while Samuel Chukwueze scored the consolation goal for Villarreal.

The 3-1 scoreline doesn’t exactly paint a clear picture of Barcelona’s overall performance. Xavi was criticised for his defensive system which almost cost them. However, Barca fans are more than willing to take the said result.

Growing pains are inevitable for Barcelona and Xavi is going to lose his first game as Barca manager eventually. But given the talent at their disposal, the Blaugrana should give every team a huge run for their money.

Memphis Depay is their top scorer with eight goals and two assists, while second behind him is Ansu Fati with four goals.

Other than Memphis Depay and Ansu Fati, Barcelona have a strong young core consisting of Riqui Puig, Pedri, and Gavi – and the three of them are only going to get better from here.

Real Betis to lose key players

Manuel Pellegrini faces a selection headache since he will miss the services of two of his important players.

Nabil Fekir and Hector Bellerin will have to sit this game out since both are going to serve their one-match bans due to their accumulation of yellow cards.

Fekir is Los Verdiblancos’ most used player this season and he’s their top creative outlet with three goals and four assists. Bellerin, meanwhile, adds depth to their full-back position alongside Aitor Ruibal and Alex Moreno.

With both of them sidelined, Juanmi – who is their leading scorer with 10 goals and one assist – would have to do the heavy lifting, especially in the final third. The in-form striker is fresh from a hat-trick vs. Levante in the last time out.

History

Barcelona predictably have the upper hand in the head-to-head against Real Betis. In their 50 matches before this weekend, Barcelona have won 32 times whereas Los Verdiblancos won only nine times along with nine draws.

The Blaugrana have scored at least three goals in 11 of their last 12 matches vs. Los Verdiblancos at home in all competitions. They also hold a five-game winning streak over their visitors.

The last six league games between these two have not produced a clean sheet, which featured 36 scored goals.

Their most recent meeting took place in February where Barcelona came out on top of a five-goal thriller.

Borja Iglesias initially took the lead at the 38^th minute, but Lionel Messi gave Barca the advantage for good and it was followed up by goals from Victor Ruiz and Francisco Trincao.

Betting Tip

	Barcelona vs Real Betis	Barcelona Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 1.81
	December 04, 23:15 (GMT+8)

Barcelona are tipped to win this fixture according to the La Liga 2021 odds. The Blaugrana are pegged high at 1.49, while Real Betis are at 5.80 and chances of a draw are at 4.50 in the 1X2 market.

Real Betis have troubled the Blaugrana on numerous occasions before and they’ll look to put an end to Xavi’s dream start. However, the hosts’ overall quality and recent form is hard to ignore.

Goals have been a common theme in this particular matchup and we expect that trend to continue this weekend – making Over 2.50 @ 2.32 a viable betting alternative.

 

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