Real Valladolid vs Barcelona 12/07/20

12 July 2020

Real Valladolid and Barcelona go head-to-head at the Estadio José Zorrilla this weekend, as the traveling side seek a fourth successive win in their La Liga H2Hs.

A 2-1 away defeat to Valencia last time out brought Valladolid’s four-game unbeaten run in La Liga to a halt (W1, D3) and came as a further confirmation of their dismal attacking form. Indeed, the ‘Pucelanos’ have now drawn a blank in three of their last seven league outings, scoring precisely once per match in the other four, as they remain one of three sides yet to score 30 goals this campaign. In fact, Sergio Gonzalez’s men have netted over 1.5 goals in just seven of 35 La Liga fixtures this season, managing a miserable average of 0.82 goals scored per league game. It seems very unlikely that Valladolid can improve that record now, as they take on a Barcelona side they’ve scored under 1.5 goals against in each of their last seven top-flight H2Hs held at this venue.

Meanwhile, a narrow 1-0 home triumph over Espanyol during the midweek has marked Barcelona’s first clean sheet after three La Liga matches (W1, D2), as the Catalan giants take the field after racking up nine league games without a loss (W6, D3). Curiously, though, five of their wins during that nine-match sequence yielded a clean sheet, which has been true in three of Barca’s last five top-flight trips to Valladolid (W4, L1). Yet, if the Blaugrana concede a goal here, they are likely to do it after the break, as the majority (63.64%) of their La Liga away goals conceded this season came in the second half of play (14/22).