Deportivo Alaves vs Barcelona 20/07/20

20 July 2020

Deportivo Alaves welcome La Liga runners-up Barcelona to the Estadio Mendizorrotza on the final matchday of the season, seeking their first home win in the top-flight H2Hs since 2001. Notably, the home side have failed to score against the Catalan visitors in each of their last seven competitive H2Hs held at this venue (D2, L5).

The hosts may have managed to overcome a severe crisis that had seen them suffer six consecutive La Liga defeats before putting together two games without a loss (W1, D1). But, a genuine lack of ruthlessness in front of goal has seen Alaves draw a blank in six of their last eight league outings, as they remain the division’s third-worst attacking team. Indeed, Juan Muniz’s lament a miserable average of 0.91 goals scored per La Liga fixture. Particularly ponderous in the final third before the break, the ‘Babazorros’ seem likely to finish the 2019/20 season as the only side to fail to reach double-digits in the first half after scoring only six first-half goals this term.

A shock 2-1 home defeat to Osasuna last time out has brought Barcelona’s three-game winning run in La Liga to a halt and handed Real Madrid the title. It also means that seven of Barca’s previous eight league matches have ended separating the sides by under 1.5 goals, with half (four) of them featuring over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring. However, the Catalan giants are a pre-match favorite after winning all six of their last top-flight H2Hs, five of which via at least a two-goal margin. Additionally, Quique Setien’s men have racked up a five-game unbeaten away run in La Liga going into this fixture (W3, D2), keeping a clean sheet on three of those occasions.