All three promoted clubs face ‘big three’ opposition in La Liga this weekend. That includes Levante’s home game against defending champions Barcelona.
The Valencia club marked their return to the top flight with a 2-1 defeat at Alaves in their season opener. They were on course for a point in Vitoria, before conceding a 92nd-minute goal.
Julian Calero set his team up in a cautious 5-4-1 system, and they had a few moments of joy on the break. We’re not likely to see anything radically different in this game, with Levante likely to be under the cosh for much of it.
Barcelona began their campaign by easing to a 3-0 win against Mallorca, although they were only up against nine men for the majority of the match. They also benefitted from a favourable call to allow their second goal from Ferran Torres, while a home defender was down with a head injury.
With no midweek distractions and after no summer trip to the Club World Cup, Barca look in really good shape currently, and they’ll back themselves to win big on the road again.
How the bookies view it: Barca the red-hot favourites
Unsurprisingly, the bookies strongly favour the visitors here. You can back the Catalans to win the game at 2/9 with Boylesports. The draw is priced at 5/1, while Levante are on offer at 15/2 to cause a huge upset.
Recent head-to-head: First meeting since 2022
These clubs haven’t met since Levante’s last season in the top flight in 2021/22. Barca won 3-2 in the most recent encounter on this ground, and have won four of the last five meetings overall.
They have lost on three of their last six trips to the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia overall though, so this hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground.
Players to watch: Yamal and Ferran to fire?
Lamine Yamal looked really good in pre-season, and he started the competitive action by scoring a trademark goal, and assisting another in Palma. After registering a league-high 13 assists last term, he could be worth a punt at 17/10 with Coral to have 1+ assists in this game.
We’re also likely to see Ferran lead the line again. He’s had a great 2025 and averaged a goal every 110 minutes in La Liga last season. The Spain international could end up really pushing for Robert Lewandowski’s starting place over the coming months, and he’s priced at 20/23 to score anytime on Saturday with Boylesports.
Predicted Lineups
Levante are missing Alfonso Pastor to injury, while they have doubts over Kervin Arriaga, Alan Matturro, Jon Ander Olasagasti and Goduine Koyalipou.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the only notable injury absentee for Barca, with Lewandowski expected to be fit enough to make the bench.
Levante: Campos, Sanchez, Cabello, De la Fuente, Elgezabal, Toljan, Rey, Martinez, Lozano, Brugui, Romero.
Barcelona: J. Garcia, Balde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Kounde, De Jong, Pedri, Raphinha, Olmo, Yamal, Ferran.
Anything else catch the eye?
Barca are clearly intent to make an early statement and show there’ll be no letting up from them this season. They raced into a 4-0 lead by the break in their final pre-season game against Como, and were two up inside 25 minutes at Mallorca on matchday one.
If you fancy a repeat here, you can back Barcelona/Barcelona in the HF/FT market at 3/4 with Boylesports.
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