Barcelona will be aiming to maintain their excellent start to the season as they travel to Real Mallorca in La Liga on Saturday.
Real Mallorca went into the international break off the back of a 1-0 victory over Almeria in their previous La Liga fixture. They struck early in the contest through Pablo Maffeo and were able to hold on for the win.
While Real Mallorca have not pulled up any trees this season, it has been a decent start to the campaign. Javier Aguirre’s men are currently sitting in mid-table having claimed two wins and two draws from six matches so far.
A slight problem for Real Mallorca is that they have not found things particularly smooth at home this season. The win over Almeria was their first at Visit Mallorca Estadi this season having failed to win their opening two matches.
Since playing out a 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano in their opening La Liga fixture this season, Barcelona have not looked back. Xavi’s men head into Saturday’s clash with five straight wins and are just two points behind champions Real Madrid.
Barcelona claimed a 3-0 victory over Elche in their previous La Liga fixture with Robert Lewandowski netting a brace. The motivation ahead of the trip to Mallorca is that they can leapfrog Real Madrid with a win on Saturday, if only temporarily.
One of the keys to Barcelona’s excellent start to the season is a solid defence that has only conceded one goal so far. However, with the likes of Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo picking up injuries on international duty, they might not be as watertight at the back.
How the bookies view it
Barcelona are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a win priced at 4/11 by BoyleSports. William Hill is offering 9/1 for a Real Mallorca victory while a draw is valued at odds of 23/5 by SBK.
Recent head to head
Barcelona often come out on top in this fixture and have won the last nine meetings with Real Mallorca. The Catalans did the double over their hosts last season, claiming a 1-0 victory in the clash at Visit Mallorca Estadi.
Players to watch
Given Barcelona’s defensive injuries, Real Mallorca will fancy their chances of getting on the score sheet on Saturday. Vedat Muriqi is their top scorer with three goals in six matches and is priced at 17/5 with Unibet to get on the score sheet.
As always, Robert Lewandowski will be the one to watch for Barcelona having scored eight goals in six La Liga matches so far. The striker is priced at 8/11 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona have put teams to the sword this season, scoring 18 goals in their last five wins and could be backed in the -1 handicap market at 20/21 with Coral. There has also been over 3.5 goals in two of their last three away matches in La Liga and a similar outcome is priced at 33/20 with Sport Nation.
Robert Lewandowski has scored the opening goal three times this season and could be backed to score first on Saturday at 12/5 by bet365.
This La Liga match between Real Mallorca and Barcelona will be played on Oct 1, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Mallorca vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
