What will Barca do against the Catalan surprise team?

Real Madrid have stumbled, and Barcelona and Girona could take advantage. Prediction for Sunday’s clash.

If someone tells you before the season that Girona will be on the La Liga podium after 15 rounds, you will be laughed at, but the Catalan side are not joking and are not about to go out of the woods just yet. Real Madrid’s stumble on Saturday could see Girona go back to the top of the table with a win, but Barca will have a say in the matter. The defending champions currently trail Real by 5 points, so if Xavi can win this one, they will be back within striking distance.

Team news

Barca have already completed two major tasks by beating Porto and then Atlético Madrid, but they should be able to complete the third part of this mini-series. If Xavi’s side lose on Sunday, they will put themselves in a difficult position, and Girona will not sell their skins cheaply.

The good news for the home side is that, apart from Ter Stegen, Gavi and Marco Alonso, they have an almost complete squad, which is a rarity in the region. The Catalan papers expect Pedri, De Jong, Gündogan in the midfield, and Lewandowski and Rapinha are expected up front alongside the superb Joao Félix, although several players are coveting the latter’s place. The defence will also be there, with Araujo, Christiensen, Koundé and Cancelo, so we can expect a Barca side with a near-strength starting line-up.

Girona’s Yangel Herrara will be the absentee, the other absentees have been injured for a long time, so their absence is not significant.

What is worth betting on?

The bookmakers have Barcelona at odds of around 1.50, which is realistic as Girona are still not a big team to be treated as such, but their form demands caution. What could be in Barca’s favour is that Xavi’s side are coming off two important wins, and the squad is now almost complete.

Girona have yet to lose a game away from home this season.

Girona are an absolute positive surprise in La Liga as they play very honest attacking football. Their 34 goals scored are six more than Barcelona’s, while the 18 goals conceded are also a lot.

This has given them a very high O/U margin for this game, with Girona’s many over games pulling this line up. Except that Barcelona are very attentive to defence in their important games, they have won a lot of 1-0 or one goal games this season. Since Barca will be at home and could be the more dominant team, we would contend this line from the under.

Girona fell to Real Madrid quite easily (0-3), meaning they were priced in by the Royals there, it’s not out of the question that Barca will do the same. Girona’s away streak will be broken sooner or later, and well, they might just get caught out at home to Barca.

Xavi’s side are very conscious of playing these important games, so we’re putting our faith in them right now and have our tips on Barcelona to win this Catalan derby.

✅ Prediction #1: Barcelona win + Girona 1.5 goals under@1.80

✅ Prediction #2: Barcelona wins + both teams score@2.55

✅ Prediction #3: Barcelona or X + both teams score@1.80

Betting deadline: 10 December 21:00