Barcelona are in action in Madrid this coming Sunday. They travel to take on a Rayo Vallecano side that has upset them frequently in recent years.
Hansi Flick will be hoping that his current squad are over those issues against this opposition. Barca have started the new campaign brightly, although they needed to come from 2-0 down to beat newly promoted Levante 3-2 last weekend. A last-minute own goal settled the game in their favour.
Marcus Rashford started on the left for the Catalans in that one, with Raphinha operating in an advanced midfield role. However, that structure wasn’t a huge success, and we may see a more orthodox lineup from the Barca boss for this game.
Rayo Vallecano clearly believe they can be competitive. They rested most of their key players again in the Conference League on Thursday, so fatigue should not be an issue following on from their 4-0 victory over Neman of Belarus on this ground.
Inigo Perez’s side have also played two league matches. Both were away from home, with the Madrid club impressive 3-1 winners at Girona on the opening weekend, before sinking to a 1-0 defeat in Bilbao against Athletic.
How the bookies view it: Barca favourites to extend 100% start
The visitors are on offer at 4/11 to win this game with Boylesports. If you’re expecting them to find life much tougher this Sunday, you can also back the draw at 15/4, while Rayo Vallecano are priced at 5/1.
Recent head-to-head: Are Rayo still Barca’s bogey team?
After winning promotion in 2021, Rayo immediately went on a five-game unbeaten run against the Catalan giants. They excelled in this fixture under Andoni Iraola’s leadership, but haven’t had as much joy in more recent times, losing the last three meetings.
Players to watch: Yamal to fire in the shots
Lamine Yamal turned 18 in the summer, and he’s hoping to take his game to yet another level this season by adding more goals. The Spain international is certainly having plenty of shots. He has had 17 in just two league outings so far this term, and you can back Yamal to have over 5.5 shots at 6/4 here with Bet365.
Predicted Lineups
Defenders Nobel Mendy and Abdul Mumin are the only injury absentees for the hosts. A number of players will return to the lineup, having been rested in Europe.
As for Barcelona, they are without the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen once more, while Gavi is rated doubtful.
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla, Chavarria, Felipe, Lejeune, Ratiu, U. Lopez, Ciss, A. Garcia, Diaz, I. Palazon, De Frutos.
Barcelona: J. Garcia, Balde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Kounde, Pedri, De Jong, Raphinha, Olmo, Yamal, Ferran.
Anything else catch the eye?
Even last season, Barca found it difficult to break Rayo Vallecano down, suggesting they haven’t totally got over their problems against the well-drilled Madrid club. They are unlikely to find this any easier, with the likes of Jorge de Frutos and Alvaro Garcia currently looking really lively in attack for Perez’s side.
The hosts will be hoping to exploit the high line of their opponents, and you can back Rayo Vallecano with a +2 Handicap at 3/4 with Boylesports. The underdogs also look good at odds of 9/4 to win either half with the same bookmaker.
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