Barcelona are in pole position to win La Liga under Hansi Flick, but they face one of the few teams to have already beaten them this season on Saturday evening.
Leganes stunned the league leaders with a 1-0 victory at the Estadi Olimpic back in December. Sergio Gonzalez put them in front very early on in that match, and they put in a huge defensive shift to keep a free-scoring Barca side at bay for the remaining 86 minutes.
Since then though, the South Madrid club have won just twice in 13 matches in La Liga. One of those victories came against Atletico, which adds to the theory that they save their best football for the big games, but Leganes are still clearly a limited outfit on many levels, and they are in the bottom three heading into this match.
Any kind of result here would be a huge bonus against a treble-chasing Barcelona side that put four unanswered goals past Borussia Dortmund in midweek in the Champions League. Hansi Flick’s men did drop points last time out in La Liga though, with a 1-1 home draw against Real Betis ending their nine-game winning streak in the Spanish top flight.
How the bookies view it: Barca the odds-on favourites
The bookies aren’t looking much past an away win here, with Barcelona the odds-on favourites at 1/3 to leave Butarque with maximum points. Leganes are available at 8/1 to complete their first ever league double over the Catalan giants, while you can back this game to finish level at 5/1.
Recent head-to-head: Can Los Pepineros strike again?
We saw one of the shock results of the season in the reverse fixture, with La Liga’s top scorers strangely out of sorts on that occasion. Barca have been in much better form since the turn of the year though, and they’ve won seven of the previous nine league meetings between the clubs overall.
Players to watch: Raba the main threat for Lega
If Leganes are going to get anything out of this game, Dani Raba will most likely be at the heart of things. He’s in terrific form with six goals in his last seven games, and can be backed at 9/2 to score anytime with Unibet here.
From a visiting perspective, it’s not entirely clear who will start in attack, with some rotation likely from Flick. Raphinha was on fire against Dortmund with a goal and two assists, and the Brazilian is likely to ask plenty of questions here if he’s not rested again.
Predicted Lineups
The home team are at full strength, with the exception of long-term absentees Borna Barisic and Enric Franquesa who are both recovering from ACL issues.
There are no fresh injury concerns for the visitors either following midweek. Dani Olmo is nearing fitness again, and has an outside chance of featuring here.
Leganes: Dmitrovic, J. Hernandez, Nastasic, Sergio, Rosier, Tapia, Neyou, Raba, S. Cisse, D. Garcia, Cruz.
Barcelona: Szczesny, Martin, Cubarsi, Araujo, Kounde, E. Garcia, Pedri, Gavi, Raphinha, Lewandowski, Yamal.
Anything else catch the eye?
With all of the last four Leganes matches serving up goals at each end, there’s certainly hope for the home team here in terms of getting on the scoresheet at some point in this one. With some defensive rotation likely from the league leaders, backing both teams to score at 4/5 with Betfred could be worth a punt.
Odds of 4/6 with Paddy Power for Leganes full-back Javi Hernandez to commit over 1.5 fouls also appeal given he’s likely to be in direct opposition to Lamine Yamal. The teenager averages 4.6 dribbles per game in La Liga, significantly more than any other player in the Spanish top flight, so it’s likely that Hernandez will be a very busy man on Saturday evening.
This La Liga match between Leganes and Barcelona will be played on and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Leganes vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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