Barcelona vs Espanyol Prediction, 12/31/2022 La Liga Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

by Tony Sink - 12/27/2022

soccer picks Ferran Torres Barcelona predictions best bet odds

Game: Barcelona vs Espanyol

Date: Saturday, December 31, 2022

Location: Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Barcelona (-400) Espanyol (+960)

Barcelona (12-1-1) will compete against Espanyol (2-6-6) at Camp Nou on Sunday. Barcelona opens at -400 and Espanyol are priced +960. The total comes in at 2.75. The goalies expected to start will be Marc-Andre ter Stegen Barcelona and Benjamin Lecomte Espanyol.

The Blaugrana were ranked 1st for goals expected having 32.6, and the squad's expected goals against came in at 9.9. Barcelona relinquished 5 goals while conceding 0.36 goals per 90, and the other team finished with 32 shots on target against them. Their goal differential sat at 28 with the help of 33 goals finished and also 5 goals allowed. They compiled 11 shut outs, which put them at a rate of 78.6 in the previous season. Barcelona had a total of 27 saves and they had a save rate of 87.5 over the course of last season. Barcelona earned 33 yellow card warnings for the prior year as well as 3 red cards. For the previous year, the team were the owners of an average of 2.64 pts/match (37 pts) and were ranked 2nd in the league with 23 assists.

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The Budgerigars held an average of 0.9 points per contest while tallying 9 assists and 4 red cards. Espanyol recorded a shut out rate of 14.3 last year as well as 28 yellow cards. Espanyol ranked 13th in regard to goals allowed having 22, and the goal difference was sitting at -6. For the season, RCD Espanyol had a save rate of 63.9 (61 SoT against), and they also sat at 17th in La Liga with 12 points. This clubs's goals against per 90 was sitting at 1.57 in addition to 40 saves, and they accumulated 2 clean sheets. Espanyol recorded 16 goals and their goals expected during the previous year was 15.8.

The man protecting the net for Barcelona will be Marc-Andre ter Stegen. His goals against per 90 mins is 0.96 (290 total goals surrendered) and he is the owner of a save percentage of .762. Stegen (190-63-50 mark during his career) has earned 123 clean sheets, which gives him a 40.6% shutout percentage. Stegen has seen the field for 27,258 mins and is sitting with 889 stops so far in his pro soccer career. The goalkeeper from Germany has seen 1,166 shots attempted against him in 303 career starts.

Benjamin Lecomte will be looking after the goal for Espanyol. In his career, Lecomte has surrendered 329 goals and has racked up 817 saves in 258 starts. He has conceded 1.27 goals per 90 mins and he has a mark of 85-84-89. He sports a save % of .725 and his shutout rate is 26.7%. Lecomte has recorded 69 clean sheets while seeing 1,127 shots tried against him in 23,292 career minutes.

Ferran Torres is one member of the team who can help decide the match for Barcelona. Torres has had a starting assignment in 61 outings during his career and he tallies 0.27 goals per 90 mins. The forward from Spain has 17 goals in 5,590 professional minutes played. He has 10 assists while accumulating 14 yellow card warnings during his pro soccer career.

Espanyol is being led onto the pitch by Javi Puado, who is known to give defenses fits. He has totaled 6 yellow cards so far in his pro soccer career and has helped a teammate on a goal 13 times. The forward from Spain has played 5,250 mins and has earned 17 goals. He scores 0.29 goals per 90 and has been given a starting assignment in 58 matches in his career.

Who will win tonight's La Liga game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Barcelona (-400)

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Barcelona vs Espanyol Prediction, 12/31/2022 La Liga Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

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