Barcelona v Man Utd Betting Tips: Can Red Devils stun Messi and co?
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Odds and preview for Champions League clash
Barcelona will expect to seal their place in the Champions League semi-finals tonight, after beating Manchester United 1-0 in the first leg.
United have it all to do, but they’ve already won away at Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain in Europe this season. Will they have another unforgettable night at Camp Nou?
We’ve got all the odds ahead of kick-off at 8:00pm on BT Sport 2…
Head-to-Head
Barca have had United’s number in recent years. They’ve won each of the previous three meetings over the last decade. They’ve only conceded once during that run too.
A heavily-rotated Barcelona side could only draw 0-0 with rock-bottom SD Huesca at the weekend, but that shouldn’t have much bearing on this.
United’s form is more of a concern. They’ve lost four away games on the bounce heading into this one.
Likely XIs
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal; Messi, Suarez, Dembele
Man Utd: De Gea; Dalot, Smalling, Lindelof, Young; Matic, McTominay, Pogba, Lingard; Lukaku, Rashford
Barcelona didn’t control the first leg as Ernesto Valverde would have wanted. He could bring in Arturo Vidal for Arthur to add extra midfield physicality this time.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are guaranteed starters in attack, with the left-wing spot up for grabs. Ousmane Dembele could get the nod over Philippe Coutinho after making his comeback at the weekend.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is without the suspended Luke Shaw, so Ashley Young should move over to left-back, with Diogo Dalot dropping into defence.
Jesse Lingard may come into midfield to add an extra spark. He’ll look to get Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku into the game.
Key Battles
United did well to disrupt Barcelona’s rhythm last week, but they didn’t have a single shot on target themselves.
That means they’ve got no choice here, they have to be more open. But the visitors can’t afford to leave their defence exposed against the likes of Messi and Suarez. Matic and Scott McTominay will need to have a big game if United are going to get anywhere.
Messi in particular could have a field day against Ashley Young. Paul Pogba will need to do his bit to help out the veteran.
But when United do get a chance to break, the pace of Rashford will be a real threat.
Match Odds
Barcelona haven’t lost a Champions League game at home since 2013. They’ve never conceded more than once at home in Europe since then either.
With that in mind, they’re 4/11 to win on the night and clear 1/20 favourites to qualify. United sit at 15/2 to win tonight, with the draw going for 21/5.
Suarez is 16/5 to score first again, with Messi 2/1 favourite to grab the opener. The duo are also odds-on to score anytime, at 19/20 and 4/9 respectively.
Lukaku is out at 8/1 as United’s likeliest first goalscorer pick, though he’s 13/5 anytime. Rashford is also a 16/5 shot.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
