Almeria vs Barcelona Betting Odds, Tips, Predictions, Preview 16th May 2024

Only three rounds remain of La Liga season, and both Almeria and Barcelona look to bolster their account at Power Horse Stadium on Thursday.

Sitting bottom of the table, Almeria have claimed 17 points after 35 rounds, while Barcelona have amassed 76 points. This places the latter as number 2 in the La Liga at the moment.

Their upcoming match is a difficult challenge for Almeria, who next face Barcelona in their continuous fight to avoid relegation. They should be highly motivated to spring a surprise, even against a tough opponent like Barcelona.

Almeria go into their next La Liga match, scoring a humble average of 1.2 per game in their last ten matches. They scored a mundane 12 times, while conceding 18. That amounts to an average of 1.8 per game, where they kept their opponents from scoring two times.

Barcelona show off splendid stats in their last ten matches, where they hit the target two times on average per game. They scored 20 goals and conceded nine, an average of 0.9 a game. They held on for a clean sheet in seven of these.

Almeria took a hit when Barcelona handed them a 3-2 defeat in their latest encounter. The former did win the reverse match though, as they secured three points to their name by claiming a 1-0 win.

Almeria vs Barcelona Prediction

Almeria Form

Showing inconsistent form, Almeria lost two of their past three matches, going down 1-3 against Getafe, before beating Rayo Vallecano 0-1. The joy was short-lived, as Real Betis proved too strong in a 3-2 defeat. Almeria didn't manage a single win in any of their previous six La Liga games at the Power Horse Stadium. They have a record of three draws and three defeats, in which they conceded 12 and scored six goals.

Many people had Almeria down as candidates for the drop before the season, but rescue is still within reach, as the season nears its end.

Barcelona Form

Six points is Barcelona have to show from their past three matches, as they beat Valencia by 4-2. This was followed by a 4-2 defeat against Girona, before winning 2-0 against Real Sociedad. Barcelona won half their previous six away matches in the La Liga, as well as seeing one draw and suffering two defeats. They scored ten goals whilst conceding eight.

We expect Barcelona to return from their trip to Power Horse Stadium with a win, but Almeria will do anything to avoid getting pummelled on home soil. Thus, we combine the away win with under 3.5 goals.

Almeria fought their way to zero wins and four points from their last 11 games against teams inside the top six. They were on target 12 times in these matches, but also let in 24 goals. Barcelona won six of their previous ten outings against teams from the bottom six and claimed 22 points. They scored 20 and conceded 13 goals. Almeria claimed two wins, 11 draws as well as 22 defeats in the La Liga this season. Barcelona have a record of 23 wins, seven draws and five defeats in the La Liga.

Almeria vs Barcelona Squads

Almeria Squad

The 61-year-old coach of the home team, Pepe Mel, will select the lineup against Barcelona from the squad below. The information in the brackets refers to goals scored and matches played in the La Liga this season:

Diego Marino (0/0), Fernando Martinez (0/2), Luis Maximiano (0/32), Aleksandar Radovanovic (0/7), Alex Centelles (0/12), Bruno Langa (0/8), Cesar Montes (0/19), Juan Brandariz (0/28), Marc Pubill (1/21), Martin Svidersky (0/0), Alejandro Pozo (0/19), Dion Lopy (0/30), Edgar Gonzalez (2/29), Gonzalo Melero (0/25), Iddrisu Baba (0/25), Jonathan Viera (2/19), Lucas Robertone (0/30), Luka Romero (3/10), Marcos Pena (0/6), Sergio Arribas (6/32), Adrian Embarba (3/33), Anthony Lozano (3/17), Ibrahima Kone (0/8), Largie Ramazani (3/29), Leo Baptistao (6/29), Luis Suarez (4/12), Marko Milovanovic (1/11), Rachad Fettal (0/0).

Barcelona Squad

Listed below is the full squad of Barcelona players that the manager Xavi Hernandez will choose from for the upcoming game:

Inaki Pena (0/10), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (0/25), Alex Balde (0/18), Andreas Christensen (2/27), Hector Fort (0/5), Inigo Martinez (0/17), Joao Cancelo (2/29), Jules Kounde (1/32), Marcos Alonso (0/5), Pau Cubarsi (0/16), Ronald Araujo (1/24), Sergi Roberto (3/12), Fermin Lopez (5/28), Ferran Torres (7/27), Frenkie de Jong (2/20), Gavi (1/12), Ilkay Gundogan (5/34), Oriol Romeu (0/26), Pedri (2/21), Joao Felix (7/27), Lamine Yamal (5/34), Marc Guiu (1/3), Raphinha (6/27), Robert Lewandowski (17/32), Vitor Roque (2/11).

Almeria vs Barcelona Team News

At the time of writing, Almeria have five players on their injured and absent list as they prepare to meet Barcelona on Thursday. Largie Ramazani and Gonzalo Melero can't be called up by the Almeria-manager, with both serving a ban.

Cesar Montes, Luis Suarez and Ibrahima Kone nurses various injuries and won't take part for Almeria against Barcelona at Power Horse Stadium.

Worst-case scenario, Barcelona have a total of six players out for their next match.

Names like Ferran Torres, Joao Felix, Sergi Roberto, Alex Balde, Marcos Alonso and Gavi most likely won't be deemed fit enough to play Almeria.

Almeria vs Barcelona Lineups

Almeria vs Barcelona H2H

Almeria lost to 3-2 Barcelona in their last encounter. This served as payback for the 1-0 win, which Almeria dished out the match before that. Barcelona will be excited about a meeting with Almeria, who have found it hard to deal with their upcoming visitors. Barcelona go into the match with a 8-1-1 advantage. The bookies have Barcelona to win this match at best price odds of 4/9.

Almeria vs Barcelona Results

The past ten matches between Almeria and Barcelona have largely been entertaining affairs. Over 2.5 goals came out a winning bet seven times in these encounters. It seems only natural to look for goals on Thursday. Over 2.5 goals is best priced at odds of 4/11 with the bookies.

Almeria vs Barcelona Betting Tips

There are a few players in each team who currently draws attention to their name in the goal-scoring department. For the visitors, Robert Lewandowski has been hitting the net regularly and now has four goals in his last six games. Should he find himself in the starting line-up on Thursday, it is because Barcelona bank on him to build on these numbers against Almeria. The latter relies on Anthony Lozano, who found the target three times in six games.

In their previous 10 matches at home across all tournaments Almeria won none, drew six and lost four. Barcelona won five, drew two and lost three of their previous 10 games away from home. Almeria might win at Power Horse Stadium this coming Thursday, but don't expect them to keep a clean sheet as well. They won just zero games to nil in their last 10 matches on home soil.

Over 3.5 goals came out six times in the past ten encounters between Almeria and Barcelona, with the former on an average of 0.8 goals a game. Barcelona scored three goals per game and both teams scored five times in this run. Over 2.5 goals came out seven times in the previous ten matches across all tournaments for Almeria, who scored an average of 1.2 goals along the way. Of the last ten games for Barcelona, seven had more than 2.5 goals, while they managed to score an average of 2.2 times goals per game.