Real Madrid v Barcelona Tips: Nacho's always tasty in Clasico

• Torres 2+ shots in 11 of 12 starts

• Nacho carded in 4 of 7 Clasicos

• Add Kounde fouls for 10/1 Bet Builder

Real Madrid v Barcelona
Thursday 2 March, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 1

El Clasico, Copa del Rey style, is what Thursday night is all about with Real Madrid hosting Barcelona in the first leg of the clubs' semi-final.

Real are a shade of odds-on, despite the fact they trail Barca by seven points in La Liga and have played a game more.

That arguably makes it doubly important they win this tie - this trophy could end up saving their season (at least to some extent), while perhaps it would sow a seed of doubt in Barca minds. Or even encourage an existing one to grow; after all the Catalans exited the Europa League last week at the hands of Manchester United.

Lewandowski ruled out

Barca's injury problems are behind that price. They will be without La Liga's top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, as well as Ousmane Dembele and Pedri.

Lewandowski's absence means Ferran Torres is set to start in the centre of the visitors' attack and subsequently I'll add him in for 2+ shots.

He's landed this in 10 of 11 starts for Barca this season, often from a wider positions, and while clearly the level of opposition rises here, his team-mates still seem likely to give him some decent service.

Next into our Bet Builder goes Barca defender Jules Kounde for 2+ fouls.

He's set to go up against Vinicius Junior, the most-fouled player in La Liga this season by some distance.

The Brazilian has drawn 2+ fouls in his last 12 games and 5+ in six of those.

Of course, they've not all been committed by the opposing full-back but the numbers for that position are impressive - opposing right-backs (or the right centre-back in a three) have conceded 2+ fouls in 15 of the Real's last 17 games.

Finally, I've backed Nacho to be carded in this fixture in the past given his remarkable record.

The Real defender has received a card in four of his seven starts against Barca and was also booked in both games he played against their B team earlier in his career.

Since returning to the starting line-up in January, he's been carded in four of seven starts, with all four of his yellows collected when playing out at full-back. With Ferland Mendy currently injured, he's likely to play on the left side of the defence here, going up against Raphinha.

Referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero is 'carding' above five yellows per game this season and has also shown seven reds in his 12 La Liga games. One of those came in the Madrid derby.

Each of these three bets looks worthy of consideration as a single but put them altogether in a Bet Builder and you get a tasty price of just under 10/1.

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