Barcelona are aiming to cement their place at the top of the La Liga table when they welcome Girona to the Esatdi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Sunday afternoon.
After beating Osasuna 3-0 at home on Thursday night, they are now three points clear at the summit ahead of El Clasico rivals Real Madrid, and are odds-on favourites to win the title. It continued their astonishing run of 19 games unbeaten in all competitions, winning their last five.
Meanwhile, Girona are struggling in 13th after such an outstanding 2023/24 domestic campaign, where they qualified for this season's UEFA Champions League (UCL). With many stars from that team leaving, this current crop are now winless in six La Liga games, although they are unbeaten in three with a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia last time out their third stalemate in a row.
Nonetheless, they are not the Girona of last season, and a Barcelona side in this kind of form should be confident of a comfortable victory on home soil.
How the bookies view it: Barca big favourites
As expected, Barcelona are overwhelming favourites to take home all three points, with BoyleSports offering as short as 2/9 odds for victory. A draw is valued at 5/1 with the same bookmaker, while an away win is 8/1.
Recent head-to-head: Barca four-midable
In the reverse fixture in September, Barcelona ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. Lamine Yamal grabbed a quickfire brace in the first half, and you can back him at 7/4 with BoyleSports to score anytime this time around. Fellow Spaniards Dani Olmo and Pedri put the visitors 4-0 up, before Cristhian Stuani netted a late consolation for the hosts.
Players to watch: How will Raphinha react?
All eyes will be on Raphinha as he returns from a humiliating 4-1 defeat by Argentina to bitter rivals Brazil in midweek. How will he react after being left out against Osasuna?
Stuani's goal in the reverse fixture was his fourth against Barcelona as a Girona player, and the veteran striker remains their biggest goal threat.
Predicted lineups
Raphinha should return to the starting XI after he was left out against Osasuna after travelling back late with Brazil, while Pau Cubarsi is also available after getting injured for Spain. However, Olmo will miss the game after suffering a fresh injury on Thursday night.
Donny van de Beek is suspended for Girona, while the likes of Abel Ruiz, Jhon Solis and Ivan Martin also miss out through injury.
Barcelona: Szczesny, Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde, De Jong, Pedri, Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha, Lewandowski.
Girona: Gazzaniga, Martinez, Blind, Kjeci, Gutierrez, Herrera, Romeu, Arthur, Tsygankov, Stuani, Danjuma.
Anything else catch the eye?
A Barcelona win is very much expected, so we have to get creative in terms of exploring betting markets. The handicap market could be one of those, with BoyleSports offering 6/4 for Barca to win with a -2 handicap, like in the reverse fixture.
The previous three H2Hs have seen plenty of goals – 17 to be exact – with at least five in each game. Therefore, backing Over 4.5 Total Goals at 7/4 with BoyleSports also seems a worthy punt.
This La Liga match between Barcelona and Girona will be played on and kick off at 15:15. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Girona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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