El Clasico takes centre stage in La Liga this weekend as Barcelona welcome arch-rivals Real Madrid to the Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon.
The teams are separated by just two points in the table, with seventh-place Barcelona trailing second-place Real Madrid.
Barca head into Sunday’s showdown on the back of a 1-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Ronald Koeman’s side enjoyed 63% possession in midweek and also prevented the visitors from registering a single shot on target.
In La Liga, Barca have been pretty inconsistent this term – picking up four wins, three draws and one loss so far.
When you look at the bigger picture, however, Barcelona have only lost eight of their previous 49 games across all competitions.
Trends also show that Koeman’s men are averaging two goals per game on home soil this season, suggesting that Sunday’s clash with be a high-scoring affair.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in midweek, with Vinicius Junior bagging a brace.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side completely outclassed the Ukrainians, notching 58% possession and 23 attempts – ten of which were on target.
Just like Barcelona, Real Madrid have lost just one of their eight La Liga games this term – sealing five wins and two draws along the way.
They have also netted 22 goals in the process (2.75 goals per game), meaning they are the top scorers in the division.
Los Blancos have lost only three of their previous 35 matches across all competitions, scoring at least one goal in each of the past nine away games.
Head-to-head: Real Madrid head into Sunday’s clash on the back of three consecutive El Clasico wins over Barcelona in La Liga.
That said, Barcelona have lost just five of the last 16 league meetings between the teams, so they will be confident of avoiding defeat this time around.
Team news: Barcelona will be without Mossa Wague, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele, Pedri and Ronaldo Araujo through injury on Sunday.
Real Madrid also have a length injury list, which contains Dani Ceballos, Gareth Bale, Dani Carvajal, Isco, Luka Jovic and Eden Hazard.
Regardless of Barcelona’s recent struggles, the Catalonians invariably rise to the occasion whenever Real Madrid come to town.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Barcelona will score over 2.5 goals on their way to beating Los Blancos on Sunday. The visitors are also expected to get on the scoresheet.