REMEMBER Terry Gibson? Well, we've signed him and while he won't be kicking a football he'll be looking into his crystal ball and bringing us his best Spanish tips every week.
The ex-Spurs, Coventry and Manchester United striker is probably best remembered for his time as part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang side of the late 80s and early 90s. Now an expert in all things La Liga he works as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage and is a contributor to unibet.
Terry previews tonight's game between Barca and Eibar and look out for his tips on tomorrow's La Liga action in a separate post later.
Barcelona v Eibar (9pm)
It's four wins out of four for Valverde in La Liga and an important victory against Juventus in the Champions League.
However, the impeccable start to the season hasn't come without trials and tribulations for the new Barcelona boss.
They just about scrambled to victory over Getafe at the weekend thanks to enormous help from the bench players Gerard Deulofeu, Denis Suarez and Paulinho. That was something that was lacking in Barcelona's squad last season.
Valverde is still searching for a suitable system for his team and he is still to settle on the best roles for Messi and Iniesta.
He started the weekend game with Suarez leading the line and Messi, Iniesta and Dembele as part of an attacking trio behind him in a 4-2-3-1 formation, that lasted for 17 minutes. He then reverted to a 4-3-3 with Iniesta dropping back into midfield and eventually ended up playing a 4-4-2 in the second half!
The injury to Dembele is a massive blow for player and club and the manager is still going to have to continue chopping and changing systems and players whilst he is missing. Whilst rotating the systems Barcelona do have a 100% record and what a luxury that is for any coach. He is still settling down into the job and the players are getting used to him but, importantly, they are winning every game they are playing at the moment.
I expect improvement for Barca as the season progresses which is rather ominous indeed. Eibar will be an interesting opponent for Barca. They are easily the most direct team in La Liga. They have even signed a goalkeeper this season in Marco Dmitrovic who can kick the ball absolutely miles upfield to the two big burly centre forwards! He does so at every opportunity.
I don't expect any slip ups from Barcelona in this one and I expect a relatively comfortable win. I am fully expecting an improvement from Luis Suarez who so far this season has been well below his usual standards. Actually, at the weekend his form was absolutely horrendous. Therefore I'm going for a Barcelona 3-0 victory with the out of sorts Luis Suarez getting the first goal.
Terry's Tips
- Correct score: Barcelona to win 3-0 (7.0, unibet)
- First scorer: Luis Suarez (4.0, unibet)
- Safe bet: Barca to win (1.11, unibet)
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An ex-Tottenham, Coventry and Manchester United striker, Terry is probably best remembered for his time as part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang side of the late 80s and early 90s. Now an expert in all things La Liga, he works as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage.
