Betis vs Barça: Preview
Barça play a tough away game looking to make it 11 in a row without a loss in the league
Real Betis BP (7th, 30pts) vs FC Barcelona (3rd, 40pts)*
*Points and positions at the time of writing on Saturday
Competition/Round: 2020-21 La Liga, Matchday 22
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Ansu Fati, Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto, Philippe Coutinho (out)
Real Betis Outs & Doubts: Victor Camarasa, Dani Martín, Diego Lainez (out), Claudio Bravo, Marc Bartra (doubt)
Date/Time: Sunday, February 7, 2021, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Monday)
Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain
Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande
VAR: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea
How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), LaLigaTV (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar LaLiga (Spain), Not Available (India), others
How to stream: FuboTV (USA), Premier Player (UK), Facebook Live (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a memorable comeback away to Granada to book a place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, Barcelona turn their attentions back to La Liga for another tough away trip, this time to Seville to meet Real Betis.
The fixtures continue to come thick and fast and Barça already have the first leg of their semi-final against Sevilla on Wednesday, so Ronald Koeman has to pay attention to the fitness levels of his players and make some decision about who plays and who sits out of this one. The problem is that Betis are a really good team, and even the strongest XI would have trouble against Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
Betis started the season a little up and down but are in great form in the league, with five straight games without a loss and some important wins at home. But they have struggled in big games so far, including a 5-2 loss to Barça at Camp Nou earlier in the season. They are also coming off a brutal Cup quarterfinal loss to Athletic Bilbao on penalties on Thursday, so Pellegrini will also have to rotate his team and try to get their spirits back up to face Barça.
These teams never disappoint when it comes to entertainment, and we are in for a good one this Sunday. Barça can make it six wins in a row and 11 straight games without a loss in the league, and three points would put them in second place in the table. This should be a lot of fun.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; Pjanic, Busquets, Puig; Dembélé, Messi, Griezmann
Real Betis (4-2-3-1): Robles; Emerson, Mandi, Ruíz, Moreno; Rodríguez, Canales; Joaquín, Rodri, Fekir; Loren
PREDICTION
Barça and Betis always play the most fun, high-scoring games you could ask for, and this will be no different: 4-2 Barça, though I wouldn’t rule out 4-3 Barça or even a 3-3 draw just because I’m expecting full madness on Sunday night.
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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