Barcelona vs Valencia Predictions and Betting Preview, 01 Feb 2018

The Match Is Over. Score: 1-0

Barcelona vs Valencia Predictions for the Copa del Rey Semi-final 1st Leg clash at what is set to be the Camp Nou to host the first leg of the tie this Thursday night. It’s the clash of the heavy-weights in the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey, the cup competition of Spain.

Match status: 2017-18 Copa del Rey Semi-finals
Kick-off: Thursday 01 Feb 2018, 08:30pm GMT
Venue: Camp Nou (Barcelona, Spain)

Barcelona v Valencia Team News

This is turning into a dream campaign for Barcelona, who have so far impressed in all the competitions entered, although the Catalans obviously need to ensure they do not spoil everything with a poor finish of the season. Runaway league leaders Barcelona entered the top four of Copa del Rey, the cup competition of Spain, beating their fellow Catalans Espanyol in the quarterfinals.

The Blaugrana won 15 of their last 16 competitive home games in a run that stretches way back to August and the league trophy is theirs to lose having created an 11-point advantage at the top. Although they were briefly in danger against Alaves on Sunday, the Catalans fought back to win 2-1 with Messi and Suarez on target.

The reigning cup holders will not want to repeat the first leg that they had against Espanyol this time on however Valencia are a solid team and could give Barcelona a run for their money.

The 2008 champions of the Copa Del Rey, Valencia, will face off against Barcelona in a period of woeful results. Valencia are on the back of three consecutive losses in regular time, two in the league and one in the cup, while at this stage two seasons ago, Barca ran riot against Gary Neville’s side from Valencia to beat them in a scoreline that saw Luis Suarez and Leo Messi share seven goals.

Los Che though aren’t on top of their game right now and were hammered 4-1 at home by Real Madrid at the weekend. They’ve now actually lost 5 of their last 8 league games so this is a genuine wobble and that’s not a record that suggests they will get anything from this game.

Valencia now sit two points ahead to Real Madrid, who have a game in hand and fast approaching are Villarreal, only 3 points behind. They need to find the early season form quick or the season could turn out to be worthless.

Injured or Suspended Players:

Barcelona: Ousmane Dembele is the only definite absentee for Barcelona.

Valencia: Marcelino is missing center back Jeison Murillo due to injury. Javi Jimenez is also set to miss out. Gabriel Paulista and Ruben Vezo are back from bans but Gabriel is carrying a knock.

Head-to-Head Record: Barcelona v Valencia

2017-18 Spanish La Liga
Valencia 1-1 Barcelona

2016-17 Spanish La Liga
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia

2016-17 Spanish La Liga
Valencia 2-3 Barcelona

2015-16 Spanish La Liga
Barcelona 1-2 Valencia