Barcelona would never in their wildest dreams have pictured themselves being 11 points clear at the top of La Liga in the middle of January, not to mention 18 points ahead of eternal rivals Real Madrid.
However, Tito Vilanova’s side are just that, and although no one at the Nou Camp will care to admit it yet, the league title is in the bag. The only question that remains is how many points Barca will be ahead of the rest of the chasing pack when the season ends.
At this rate, it could well be by the greatest margin in La Liga’s history because Vilanova’s men are simply a class above the rest and never look as though they are in any danger of dropping points.
Barca are a complete joy to watch when they are performing to their maximum potential, which let’s be honest, is 99.9% of time, but that does unfortunately make it very difficult for us punters when looking to place a bet on their fixtures.
On Saturday evening, they travel to Estadio Anoeta to face a Real Sociedad side that currently sit in ninth spot and are having a fairly decent season.
In spite of that though, the away side are huge favourites, priced up at 13/50, which clearly is not worth having a flutter on.
However much I moan about the odds given for a Barcelona victory, it is hardly surprising considering they have won 12 La Liga games on the spin and, incredibly, have only dropped two points all season – in a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid.
With that in mind, it is no wonder Sociedad are considered huge 9/1 outsiders to claim all three points, with the draw available at odds of 17/4.
When looking for extra value, it seems that the only way to make any profit is backing Vilanova’s men to win on the handicap market.
Although, even starting a goal behind, they are still only priced at a measly 67/100, so I suggest going one further and backing Barca to win despite a two-goal deficit at slightly more tempting odds of 33/20.
With four-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi on the pitch, anything is possible, so do not be surprised if the Argentine genius bags another hatful on Saturday evening.
Another bet that grabs my attention because of their previous two away La Liga fixtures is a 1-0 lead for Barca at the break.
Against Malaga and Valladolid they led 1-0 at the half-time interval and for this scenario to repeat itself for the third time in a row bwin customers can get a price of 12/5.
In addition to that, both of those matches ended in 3-1 scorelines and this outcome is available at odds of 9/1 for punters who want to back a hat-trick happening at the weekend.
One thing for sure is Barcelona will be winning again on Saturday, but let’s just hope that at least one of the additional selections I have tipped up comes to fruition for us.
