AD Ceuta v Barcelona – Spanish Copa Del Rey – Betting Preview
Barcelona Summary
Barcelona’s spirits and confidence on the pitch are strong despite ongoing financial worries about the future.
Barcelona won the Super Cup final against bitter rivals Real Madrid last week and come into this cup game in an excellent mood as a result.
Manager Xavi will send out a much-weakened side for this game versus a lower-league club. However, Lewandowski should begin as he is suspended in the league this coming weekend. That said, it would not be a shock if the boss left the Pole out too.
They will change almost every position away from the natural starters, but such is the squad depth, the predicted team on paper looks more than enough to get the job done with ease.
Araujo and Frenkie de Jong remain in Catalonia and Will take a couple of days’ rest. The rarely used Memphis Depay also stayed in Barcelona as he is on the verge of signing to join Atletico Madrid.
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 market first. Of the host, almost nothing is known by the public and so naturally, the clear favourite for this game is Barcelona @ 1.11. The home side is given barely a hope of winning the match @ 24. The draw would also be a major boost for the lower league club, it is priced @ 11.
Moving onto the Asian handicap market for this contest. Barcelona is an extremely heavy favourite and rightly so, they need to win by 3 goals or more to return backers a winning bet. Barcelona -2.5 is @ 1.84, the biggest concern here would be that they fail to get suitably motivated enough to cover this handicap against a team that by contrast, is playing the game of their life. Ceuta get a +2.5 start @ 1.99 and it would not be a shock if they won with this handicap behind them. Barcelona may not score until the second half then sit back, 0-1 and 0-2 are probable results unless the host gets a shock opening goal.
Looking at The Under/Over market last of all which looks heavily dependent on a big Barcelona win to cover the 3.5 goal line for it to go over. As above, Barcelona will not be anywhere near as motivated as they were in the Supercup or league matches and is likely to play within themselves both in terms of intensity and tempo. Over 3.5 is @ 1.90 and Under is @ 1.86.
