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Barcelona will try to maintain at least a share of the Spanish La Liga lead when they visit Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Barca (12-2-1) entered Matchweek 16 with an identical record to Real Madrid, who were set to face Villarreal on Saturday. Barcelona’s only loss is a 3-1 setback to Los Blancos in November. Atletico (8-3-4) entered the weekend fourth in La Liga’s table, 13 points behind the leaders and with five teams behind them within four points. Barcelona are on a six-game league unbeaten run (5-1-0) and come in off a 1-1 draw with Espanyol last Saturday. Atletico defeated last-place Elche 2-0 on Dec. 29 to snap a three-game league winless streak.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain. Caesars Sportsbook lists Barcelona as +129 favorites (risk $100 to win $129) in its latest Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona odds, and Atletico are +210 underdogs. A draw is priced at +230, and the over/under for total goals is 2.5. Before locking in any Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid picks or bets, make sure you check out the Spanish La Liga predictions and best bets from soccer insider Jon Eimer.
Eimer, widely known as “Buckets,” is a high-volume bettor who has vast knowledge of leagues and players across the globe. Since joining SportsLine, Eimer has covered the English Premier League, Serie A, the FA Cup and much more.
He has been on fire on his Premier League predictions for SportsLine, going 28-4 on his past 32 picks, making him 59-25-1 (69%) since the start of 2022. That has meant a profit of more than $2,800 for $100 bettors. He is 306-291-8 on all picks on SportsLine since the start of 2022.
Now, Eimer has broken down the Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona matchup from all sides. You can head to SportsLine to see the picks. Here are the betting lines and trends for Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid:
- Atletico vs. Barcelona spread: Barcelona -0.5 (+130)
- Atletico vs. Barcelona over/under: 2.5 goals
- Atletico vs. Barcelona money line: Atletico +210, Barcelona +129, Draw +230
- Atletico: They have allowed one goal or fewer 12 times in league matches.
- Barcelona: They have scored two or more goals nine times in league play.
- Atletico vs. Barcelona picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why you should back Barcelona
Barca and Real Madrid have been the dominant teams in the league all season. Barcelona have been the best on the defensive end, by far, allowing six goals in 15 matches. That’s five fewer than any other team, and they are allowing just two shots on target per contest. Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has league highs with 11 clean sheets and an 87.9 save percentage. Defenders like Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo and Marcos Alonso keep him from working too hard. It also helps that Barca hold the ball for an average of 65% of their matches, 7% more than any other team.
Star striker Robert Lewandowski (league-high 13 goals) will miss out on a booking suspension, but Ferran Torres will likely take his place. The 22-year-old has two goals but has started just six matches. The Blaugranes have a clear edge in midfield, with 20-year-old star Pedri playing alongside any of Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets. Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha are among the options to flank Torres. Dembele shares the league lead in goal-creating actions (10), Fati leads in GCA per 90 minutes (1.02) and Raphinha is first in passes into the penalty area (28).
Why you should back Atletico Madrid
The Red and Whites are 3-2-1 in their past six meetings with Barcelona, including a 2-0 league victory last season at Wanda Metropolitano. They have hit a rough patch in league play but have beaten their past four opponents 9-1, including three Copa del Rey victories. Atletico got goals from Joao Felix and Alvaro Morata against Elche to snap a league winless streak that dated to Oct. 23 (0-2-1). Their only previous La Liga losses came to Real Madrid and Villarreal. Morata (six league goals) and Antoine Griezmann (five) pace an attack that should be spurred on by the home crowd.
Barca haven’t been allowing many goals, but five of their six conceded have come away from home. Atletico have the fourth-most goals in La Liga (23) and have conceded the fourth-fewest (14). They have allowed 48 shots on target, third-fewest in the league. They put almost 37% of their shots on target (fifth-highest in La Liga) while opponents hit the target 28% of the time (third-lowest). Atletico lead the league in tackles (288) and tackles won (174) and are fifth in blocks (154) and should frustrate Barcelona’s attackers. They also will obviously benefit from Lewandowski’s absence.
How to make La Liga and Atletico vs. Barcelona picks
Eimer has broken down Sunday’s Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid match from every angle. He is leaning Under the goal total and has two confident best bets and offers his full breakdown. He’s only sharing those picks at SportsLine.
So who wins Atletico vs. Barcelona in Sunday’s Spanish La Liga match? And where does all the betting value lie? Visit SportsLine now to see the best bets for the Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid match, all from the soccer expert up more than $2,800 on his Premier League picks in 2022.
