Barcelona vs PSV Eindhoven

UEFA CL 2018-19 – Barcelona vs PSV Eindhoven Match Preview

Another season, another Champions League game at the Camp Nou as Barcelona host Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven! A game that shapes up to be very entertaining as both sides have been in tremendous goal scoring form but this could really go one way traffic. Barcelona are far superior at the end of the day and are massively favoured to pick up an easy win here!

Key Facts

Barcelona are currently showing perfect form winning all 4 games in the league to start the season.

Barcelona are also the highest scoring team with 14 goals in La Liga and of course Messi is their top scorer with 4 and has 2 assists

Dembele and Suarez are also showing great goal scoring form with 3 each.

Barcelona are unbeaten at home ever since their Super Cup loss to Real Madrid in August 2017.

Barcelona have scored 11 goals in 2 home games this season.

3 of the 4 Barca’s games ended with an over 2.5 goals.

PSV are also perfect in their domestic league with 5 wins out of 5 and they’ve scored an incredible 21 goals in Eredivisie (13 in previous 2). Also PSV beat BATE 6-2 on aggregate to qualify for UCL.

Lozano is PSV’s top scorer with 6, Pereiro and Bergwijn have 5 and de Jong has 4 in all competitions! Tons of attacking threat.

Team News

Barcelona: Barcelona fielded a rested squad during the weekend therefore we can expect changes for this match. Coutinho came off the bench during the weekend’s clash against Sociedad but should get back into the starting line-up for this game. Vidal and Busquets are expected to return into the line-up too although Valverde has been a little worried about Vidal’s fitness so he is still on the doubted list. Sergi Roberto will probably occupy his main positions at RB over Semedo as he gets moved out of the midfield. Barcelona have a pretty healthy squad and every key player is available for this clash!

PSV: There is a chance that we may see a more defensive approach from PSV, well actually it’s almost certain and they won’t be able to play their free flowing football that they do in Eredivisie because this is a different beast they’re coming up against. PSV’s best hope at goals is counter attacks which is where Lozano especially could end up being crucial. Lozano Bergwijn de Jong and Pereiro are all expected to make a start due to their fantastic form but we could see all of them drop deeper to help the team defend and then attempt to get out on counters. PSV are a dangerous side for sure and do have the potential to make it a tough match for Barca, but they simply have to be on their game and maybe even above their game for the whole 90 minutes!

Betting Tips and Predictions

Barcelona will of course win this game, there’s no doubt about it. It’s hard to evaluate how good PSV really are because they haven’t faced anyone good. Their attack on paper is fantastic and they can definitely get themselves a goal, but can they hold Barca off? In Eredivisie their backline looks good because other teams are simply not good enough but against the European gians it will truly be put to test. We’re looking at a comfortable Barcelona win here and a high scoring game. Barcelona -2.5 at 1.80 and Barcelona over 3.5 goals at 2.15 are our picks. Yes, Valverde has been known for not going all out at times, but this is the Champions League opener and there’s no way Barca doesn’t go guns blazing for it. They’ve already shown what can happen when they are really on it when they beat Huesca 8-2. We expect Barcelona to pounce PSV 4-1. Barca are just a whole different level to Eredivisie competition. Also, Messi and Suarez both to score anytime although the odds won’t have much value there.

Match Odds (TonyBet)

Barcelona Win – 1.09

Draw – 10.50

PSV Eindhoven Win – 26.00

KICK OFF – 18th September 2018 – 5:55pm UK Time