Football Bet of the Day: Barca to win Catalan clash

Barcelona v Girona
Monday 10 April, 20:00
Live on LaLigaTV

Our pal Tobias came up big with his final tip, netting a 3.39/4 winner as Almeria beat Valencia 2-1 in a massive relegation scrap. TG gets to go and enjoy what remains of the Easter holiday, and we'll start our week in Catalunya. Barcelona can take another big step towards the La Liga title with a victory over neighbours Girona, and I expect them to take maximum points.

Barca are licking their wounds after a 4-0 hammering at home against bitter foes Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. A second-half collapse saw Xavi's team tumble out of the competition and suffer their worst defeat in a Clasico for decades. The irony is that Barca's league success has been built on solid defending, but they had no answer to Real in general, and the threat posed by Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema in particular.

Things should be rather more straightforward against Girona, and a win for Barca would put them 15 points clear at the top with ten games to go, after Real lost 3-2 at home to Villarreal. Barcelona have won 11 of their last 12 La Liga home games, and their opponents on Monday have already achieved their main objective for the season. With 34 points in the bag, newly-promoted Girona are a win or two away from safety, and while a push for Europe is theoretically possible, it seems unlikely.

Girona have lost five of their last ten La Liga games, including a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the reverse fixture. On their travels they have lost three of their last five.

I'll use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder here to back Barcelona to win, Robert Lewandowski to have at least two shots on target, Gavi to commit at least one foul and Over 6.5 Corners in the match at 2.546/4. Lewandowski is averaging 1.99 shots on target per 90 in his first La Liga season, while Gavi has committed 58 fouls in La Liga, the joint-second highest figure. As for the corner count, both teams' games average comfortably above the Over 6.5 Corners line.