There isn't anything quite like El Clasico.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are consistently the two most dominant teams in La Liga, and they'll renew their rivalry on Saturday in Madrid. With Los Blancos struggling this season, Barca could legitimately put the whole Liga away if they can go on the road and pick up three massive points.
This La Liga duel will go down Saturday, December 23, 2017, at 7 a.m. ET at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The match will be televised live on beIN Sports.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Real Madrid +110
Barcelona +210
Draw +280
Over/Under 3.5
Odds Analysis
Goals are expected to be aplenty in El Clasico, and why not? These two teams have combined to score 72 goals already this season with Barcelona averaging 2.63 goals per game and Real Madrid averaging 2.00 goals per game.
These two defenses, though, are almost among the best in Spain. Barcelona has only conceded seven goals in 16 matches; Real Madrid has given up 11 in 15 duels.
The home team is almost always favored in El Clasico, and this isn't an exception. It's a must-win game for Real Madrid which sits 11 points back with a game in hand. A price of +110 isn't convincing. A point or more for Barcelona is about a 50/50 proposition.
Key Injuries
This is going to be a cracker of a match, and one of the reasons for it is because there isn't a slew of injuries to discuss.
Real Madrid hasn't had Cristiano Ronaldo in training for much of this week thanks to a calf problem. Would CR7 really sit out the biggest match of the season at home against a team he loves to face? We sincerely doubt it. If Ronaldo is walking, he'll be playing on Saturday.
The same could be said for Jordi Alba for Barca. He hasn't trained all week long but has assured reporters that he's playing on Saturday.
Ousmane Dembele is back in training for Barcelona after a four-month absence, but he has already been ruled out until the new year.
Recent Form
Real Madrid is off to a poor start in La Liga this year. The fact that it only has 31 points from 15 matches is a horrid sin. There's no doubt that this team will finish second this season so long as it gets back in its form, but there's not much suggesting that it's better than Atletico Madrid or even Valencia as we near the halfway point of the season.
That said, Los Blancos were at the FIFA Club World Cup for the last week, a tournament they won by beating Brazilian team, Gremio in the finale. That's four straight wins for Real Madrid across all competitions, though only one of those duels (a 5-0 thrashing of Sevilla) came in La Liga.
Barcelona is taking zero prisoners right now in La Liga. The team has yet to lose this year, and its 13-3-0 mark is one of the top records in any of the top flight European leagues.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Even without Neymar in the fold, Barcelona is one of the superior teams in all of Europe. There was always enough firepower on this offense with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and Paulinho has stepped into that third banana role just fine with six goals in the Primera Division this year.
Ronaldo can always take over any match against any team in the world, but we still don't see this Real Madrid side capable of the same dominant play that Barcelona is. We think there's a good chance the Catalonia side can come to Madrid and steal all three points, but we feel much happier taking the half ball on the Asian Handicap.
La Liga Odds: Real Madrid 2, Barcelona 2
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