After Stumbling at Athletic Bilbao last time out, Barcelona will be targeting a return to winning ways as they host Mallorca in a Friday night La Liga fixture. The Catalans have a decent record at home and should have the upper hand over Mallorca, who often struggle on their travels.
Barcelona head into Friday’s clash off the back of a 0-0 draw with Athletic Bilbao last tine out in La Liga. They saw a lot of possession but struggled to get past a sturdy Bilbao backline, finishing with just two attempts on target.
The result means Barcelona missed the chance to close the gap on Girona and Real Madrid, who also dropped points last weekend. Xavi’s men are still unbeaten in their last seven matches, although they have picked up just four wins in that run.
Barcelona are often decent at home and are unbeaten in four of their last five matches. They often try to maintain their discipline at the back, keeping two clean sheets in their last three home matches and claiming a 4-0 victory over Getafe in their previous fixture at home.
Mallorca have been on a high in recent weeks after securing a place in the Copa Del Rey final. Javier Aguirre’s men travel to Barcelona unbeaten in five of their last six matches across all competitions.
While things have been smooth in the Cup, a closer look at Mallorca’s La Liga form shows a less than stellar record. They have picked up just two wins from their last nine La Liga matches, although one of those victories was a 1-0 triumph over high-flying Girona last weekend.
One of the major problems for Mallorca is a poor away record having picked up just one La Liga win on travels this season. They often struggle in attack and have failed to score in six of their last eight La Liga fixtures on the road.
How the bookies view it
Barcelona are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 4/9 by William Hill. An unlikely victory for Mallorca is valued at 6/1 by BetVictor while a draw is set at odds of 7/2 by Betfred.
Head to head
Barcelona have a 28-7 advantage with six draws from 41 previous matches against Mallorca. Both teams played out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture back in September but the Catalans have won the last five meetings in front of their fans.
Players to watch
Robert Lewandowski is the leading scorer for Barcelona with 12 La Liga goals and will be the one to watch on Friday. The Polish striker also has four goals in his last five matches and is priced at 6/5 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
With Mallorca often struggling for goals on their travels, Barcelona will be targeting a shutout on Friday. Ronald Araujo should continue at the heart of the defence and can lead the Catalans to a clean sheet at 11/10 with Coral.
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona have won to nil in two of their last three home matches and a similar outcome is priced at 29/20 by BetVictor. Given the one-sided result in their previous home fixture, a -1 handicap could also be considered at 13/10 with Unibet.
The Catalans scored in both halves in their previous home fixture and a similar pattern is priced at 13/10 with BoyleSports.
This La Liga match between Barcelona and Mallorca will be played on Mar 8, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Mallorca prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
