Barcelona will hope to take advantage of a stumbling Real Madrid when they head to the Nou Camp for the first El Clasico of the season on Saturday.
It’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting campaigns in La Liga for a long time with no clear favourite after the first few months.
Real Sociedad lead the way but Real Madrid, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Osasuna are all just three points adrift.
Rayo Vallecano sit in sixth, one point further back, and Barcelona are currently in seventh with a five-point gap to leaders Sociedad.
Home Form Key for Barca
It has been a season of contrast for Barcelona, with their home form differing massively from their record on the road.
They boast the best record of any club in the division on their own patch, picking up 13 points from a possible 15, while they are yet to win away – drawing two and losing one – with just a single goal scored.
Barca will be hoping to draw on that fine home form when arch-rivals Real head to the Catalan capital at 15:15 on Saturday.
After starting the season with an eight-game unbeaten run across all competitions, Real have lost two of their last three, including a recent trip to Catalunya when they went down 2-1 to Espanyol.
@MrAncelotti: “#ElClásico is special and my players are focussed and up for it”
— Real Madrid C.F.
(@realmadriden) October 21, 2021
Recent El Clasico’s have trended towards Real, winning each of the last three and they are unbeaten in four.
Los Blancos ran out 3-1 winners at the Nou Camp last term – their first league victory away at Barca since 2016 – but backing that up this weekend could prove difficult.
Barcelona are the 17/10 underdogs going into Saturday’s clash and look worth trusting as they attempt to edge up the standings.
Atleti to Take Advantage of Depleted Leaders
As mentioned earlier, Sociedad are the pacesetters but they face a serious test at 20:00 on Sunday when they head to Atletico Madrid.
Sociedad’s position at the summit is slightly false due to the fact they have played a game more than each of the three sides placed directly below them.
Atleti are one of those clubs and a victory on Sunday will propel them above La Real as they look to respond to a defeat against Liverpool in the Champions League.
Diego Simeone’s side are always tough to beat on their own patch and they ran out 2-0 winners over Barcelona when last seen at the Wanda Metropolitano in La Liga.
It’s also worth noting that 13 of Sociedad’s 20 points this campaign have come at home and they haven’t won at Atletico since 2013, losing seven and drawing one in the interim.
There’s not a huge amount of value in backing Atleti at 20/31 but a home win and under 2.5 goals, available at 2/1, looks an attractive prospect.
The capital-based club are notorious for being tight at the back and three of their four home fixtures have contained fewer than three goals this term.
Sevilla Can Keep Levante at Bay
Sevilla are another of the frontrunners in La Liga and they go into Sunday’s 13:00 clash at home to Levante sitting third.
They have won each of their three fixtures at home and there’s little to suggest they won’t make it four from four when Levante arrive at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Levante are in a lowly 18th place with just five points from their opening nine outings and are yet to taste victory.
Scoring goals has been a major problem for Javier Pereira’s side, especially on the road after registering just twice in five fixtures.
Sevilla, meanwhile, have only conceded once at home and they look good value at 6/5 to win to nil.
*All odds correct at time of writing.