Barcelona ended their disastrous Champions League campaign with a 4:2 away win in Pilsen on Tuesday, with boss Xavi quickly declaring that “the goal is to win the Europa League”. That one will have to wait until the new year though. Winning the next two games before the winter break is crucial for Barca to stay in touch with La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who are one point ahead of the Catalans. In addition, the victory will extend an impressive run of 11 games in La Liga, where the only drawback was the defeat to Madrid, so the blue garnets will not have much reason to fear the visit of Almeria. The hosts have won their seven previous home matches, scoring 3.43 goals per game, with five of the fights ending in clean sheets. In addition, Barcelona have yet to lose this season at home. Thus, the team has 10 wins and a draw, which corresponds to 31 points and the second position in the standings. Araujo, Christensen, Depay, Garcia, Kessy, Roberto and Torre will not be able to play today.
Almeria are heading towards the relegation zone in the middle of the table, but they are not to be taken lightly. The team has won three wins in five games. Each of those victories resulted in the Andalusians scoring three times, which is a real scoring spike considering they haven’t previously scored three goals in a La Liga game since May. This may inspire confidence in goals, but winning remains a Herculean task, as evidenced by visiting coach Ruby’s personal best against Barcelona of six defeats. In addition, Almeria have never won away from home, which is already 13 games without a win. Before this game, the “red-whites” had four victories and a draw, which corresponds to 13 points and 13th position in the standings. In addition, the team has 15 goals scored and a victory at home in the last game over Celta (3:1). Rojas, Nieto and Martos, who has a knee injury, will not be able to play today. By the way, if you are interested in 888 soccer prediction, we recommend that you follow the link.
