A first ever Catalan Derby between Girona and Barcelona in La Liga is a big occasion and given the highly charged political situation in the region at the moment, it is an interesting time for this inaugural top flight meeting.
Barca make the short trip north as leaders of the Primera Division thanks to a perfect start with five wins from five, and while they looked a little rusty in their previous away match at Getafe last Saturday, Tuesday night saw them thrash Eibar 6-1 at the Camp Nou.
The scoreline, however, could have looked a little different with the Basques missing a one-on-one at 0-0 and subsequently hitting the woodwork on a couple of occasions, but Barca's class showed in the end.
Girona FC.Girona, for their part, have been strong at home during their debut top flight season, drawing with Atletico Madrid, beating Malaga and missing an injury time penalty to narrowly lose 1-0 to Sevilla.
The Estadio Montilivi will be completely sold out on Saturday evening for a game which bet365 are live streaming for UK-based customers and the hosts are offered at 11/1 (12.00) to record a memorable win.
Barcelona, meanwhile, can be backed at 2/9 (1.22) and given the form of Lionel Messi it is difficult to envisage anything other than an away win even if they do not play to their best.
Four goals against Eibar brought the Argentine's tally to 12 goals in eight matches in all competitions this season, and Messi seems difficult to stop at the moment; he is offered at 4/11 (1.44) to net at anytime, and at 2/1 (3.00) to open the scoring, and having broken the deadlock in three of the last four league games for the Blaugrana this looks like a decent option.
There could also be some interest in backing the visitors to win with a -2 handicap at 7/5 (2.40) which looks like being the smartest angle to back a Barca wiin, as they have netted 17 goals in five league games and are the top scorers in La Liga - meaning they will head to Girona feeling confident that they can rack up another victory by a comfortable margin.
|
Barcelona to win with a -2 handicap at 7/5 (2.40) for a 1.5pt stake with bet365 |
