Leganes v Barcelona Bet Builder Stats & Predictions
Leganes v Barcelona
Kick Off: 20:00, Saturday 12th April
Competition: LaLiga
Watch Live: Premier Sports Player/LaLigaTV UK
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Barcelona travel to Leganes with a four point lead at the top of La Liga as they aim to dethrone Real Madrid. They fired four goals past Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final during the week which will give them licence to really focus on this game, they could have a seven point lead by the end of the weekend if results go their way. They face a Leganes side that is battling to avoid the drop but have struggled in recent weeks, failing to win any of their last four games.
Match Stats: Barcelona likely to dominate
Barcelona have plenty of motivation to pick up all three points here. The La Liga title race has been tight throughout the campaign but Barcelona have an opportunity here to open up some breathing room between themselves and the chasing Madrid sides. Real Madrid have to attempt to come back from three goals down in the second leg of their Champions League tie, so Carlo Ancelotti is left with a tough choice in deciding which competition to prioritise.
Barcelona boast the best away record in La Liga this season, winning 10 of their 15 games on the road and scoring 42 goals in the process. This goal output is a real strength of Barcelona’s, the next top scorers in the road in La Liga are Real Madrid (26) which shows how the firepower that Hansi Flick has with Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski is impossible to contain at times.
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Leganes have won five of their 15 games at home this season, they’ll struggle to deal with the attacking prowess of this Barcelona side but did manage to come away with a 1-0 win in the initial meeting between the sides in which they went ahead early and then sat deep for the rest of the game. The metrics from that game suggest that this result is unlikely to be replicated by Leganes, with Barcelona looking to close in on the La Liga title.
Predictions:
- Barcelona to win @ 1.29
- Barcelona -1 handicap @ 1.83
- Barcelona most shots on target in each half @ 1.67
Shot Stats: Look to the Barcelona wingers for returns
Lamine Yamal and Raphinha have been a deadly duo in the wide areas for Barcelona this season. Yamal has registered 31 goal contributions across his 43 appearances in all competitions this season whilst Raphinha has recorded 48 goal contributions across his 45 appearances in all competitions. These numbers are astronomical for wide players, especially when considering they gave Lewandowski between them who usually takes up a large chunk of the goal output.
Raphinha has had 87 shots (3.47 per 90) with 35 of these attempts finding the target (1.40 per 90) across his 28 La Liga appearances this season. He enters this game having scored and provided two assists against Dortmund in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over the Bundesliga side. Barcelona play with such attacking freedom in the final third that stopping them can be an issue, especially when the wide players find themselves in this sort of form.
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Yamal has had 101 shots (4.05 per 90) with 29 of these attempts finding the target (1.16 per 90), this is a record that shows how trigger happy Yamal can be when he cuts inside onto his left foot. He’s likely to take aim from outside the area, 42% of his total efforts in La Liga this season have come from outside of the box. Yamal enters this game having scored against Dortmund in Barcelona’s Champions League success during the week.
Predictions –
- Lamine Yamal to score/assist @ 1.67
- Lamine Yamal 1+ shots on target @ 1.36
- Raphinha to score/assist @ 1.57
- Raphinha 1+ shots on target @ 1.2
Card Stats: Cards could be in short supply but Leganes are the more likely to become frustrated
Both of these sides rank in the bottom four in La Liga when it comes to yellow cards. The initial meeting saw two yellow cards produced, both in the direction of Leganes players with the away side committing 13 fouls in the game, a total in line with their average across the season of 13.4 fouls committed per game.
Despite this fouls average record being amongst the top six sides in La Liga, it doesn’t regularly translate into a flurry of cards as the initial meeting shows. However, the 64 cards that Leganes have received this season (2.13 per game) is a big increase on the 49 that Barcelona have been shown this campaign (1.63 per game).
Barcelona had 75% of the ball in the initial meeting between the sides so we can expect them to control the tempo again here. Leganes should live up to their foul average again here and marginally come out as the side having to do more defensive work resulting in more cautions for the away side.
Predictions –
- Leganes 12+ fouls committed
- Leganes 13+ fouls committed
- Leganes to be shown the most cards
By: @AndysBetClubUK
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Pressinphoto / Icon Sport
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