Lewis Blackhorme
Dailysports's expert
Real Betis
Barcelona
On January 12, King Fahd International Stadium (Riyadh) will host the semi-final match of the Super Cup of Spain, in which Betis will compete with Barcelona. The battle will start at 20:00 CET.
Betis
The club made progress under the rule of Pellegrini in two previous seasons. At first there was a rise up in the European competition, and in the spring the team was able to win in the Copa del Rey, finishing in the Primera in the 5th place. A pretty good start was the main feature of the new temporada, but the strength for that victorious pace had been enough only until the end of September. There were hopes that Manuel would wisely use a long pause for the World Cup. Still, January began with a goalless draw in the home match, albeit against Athletic, a rival in the run for the 4th place. And only in the struggle with Rayo Vallecano, that took place at the weekend, the team made a kind of success. To tell the truth, that battle was not particularly bright and memorable. Nevertheless, a 2-1 victory in Madrid allowed returning to the top four – so, will the position be the same after the following round?
Barcelona
The team is more than motivated to travel to Saudi Arabia. It is obviously a chance to win the title, playing a couple of matches. It’s true that the Super Cup is not considered to be outstanding, but, on the other hand, it is an official trophy –something that has not been raised above by the grandee for a long period of time. The previous trophyless temporada had continued and Xavi could not get through with “the Catalan giants” in the play-offs of the Champions League, missing the 2nd attempt in a row. Moreover, in the inner arena, after having a rest during the pause, Barça could not win in regular time either in the struggle against Espanyol in the Primera, or even in the match with Intercity (has anyone heard about it before?!) in the cup. After such “success” a trip to the capital, to Atlético, was awaited with some kind of apprehension. But the team did score in that battle once – that was Dembele’s effective action. And the own gates, albeit with panic, were kept in safe.
The statistics of head-to-head matches
The clubs exchanged away victories in the La Liga last season.
Predictions
Bookmakers are expected Barcelona to be an undisputable favourite of the match. But its game hasn’t been impressed yet, thus, it’s worth having a closer look at the option of betting on Betis with “a +1 goal handicap” (odd: 2.01).
