Alaves vs Barcelona Prediction: Bet on goals and the home win

Robert Lewandowski continued his hot start to the 24/25 season with two goals in Barcelona's 5-0 home win over Young Boys in midweek. The Pole's form has helped propel Hansi Flick's side to the top of the La Liga table and they have a great chance to grab another three points on Sunday when they face Alaves, from 15:15, live on Premier Sports 1.

Our Spanish football expert Mark Sochon has been in nearly as good form himself, with a string of winners over the past fortnight. Let's see what his Barcelona vs Alaves Predictions are in his match preview here at Betfred Insights...

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Barcelona are bidding to make it eight wins from nine to kick off the new season in La Liga this weekend. Given their extensive injury problems, that would represent a fine start for Hansi Flick heading into the second international break.  

In their way, stand an Alavés side that will take plenty of encouragement from what an inspired Osasuna did against Barça last Saturday, just up the road in Pamplona. 

Flick took a risk by leaving regulars Alejandro Balde, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Iñigo Martínez on the bench. Even by the standards of a campaign when a host of academy graduates have tasted first team action, it was an inexperienced Barcelona line-up, and there was perhaps one too many youngsters in there to compete against a competitive Osasuna side. 

A 4-2 scoreline in the home team's favour was not an unjust outcome, as the Catalans dropped points for the first time in La Liga 2024/25. There was better news for them the following day though, with the Madrid derby ending level to leave Flick's side with a three point advantage at the top heading into matchday nine. 

The logic behind all the changes in Pamplona was seemingly to keep players fresh for Tuesday's Champions League showdown against Young Boys. As it turned out, Barça were not seriously tested by their Swiss opponents, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice in a dominant 5-0 victory. 

That was an eighth win in 10 competitive outings for Barcelona this term and they've fired in 31 goals across that period. They've had a reasonable rest ahead of this match which suggests Flick will be sending out a much stronger eleven on Sunday at Mendizorrotza than was the case last weekend. 

While Flick had previously been very consistent with his team selection, resisting the urge to rotate until matchday eight, Alavés boss Luis García has taken a very different approach to dealing with a packed schedule at the start of this Spanish football season. 

García has chopped and changed from game to game, with only three outfielders starting more than five of his team's eight matches so far. That may partly be about ensuring players stay fresh, but it also may be a reflection of a coach who is unsure of his best eleven after a busy summer which saw 12 players arrive and a similar number depart. 

All things considered, Alavés have made a positive start to the new campaign having comfortably beaten the drop as a newly promoted club last term. 

They are nestled safely in mid-table heading into the weekend, just one place below where they finished last season, but they've been a bit easier on the eye with what feels like a slightly more attacking approach. 

The Basque side rank in the top eight for goals scored, with winger Carlos Vicente perhaps their most impressive player so far, although forwards Kike García and Toni Martínez have also both chipped in with two goals apiece. 

Alavés do though, head into this game on the back of their worst performance of the campaign, a 2-0 defeat at previously winless Getafe. Luis García was not a happy man after that and judging by his approach to date, he's likely to ring the changes again here. 

Team News: 

The Alavés boss is certainly not short of options, with only two injury concerns heading into this game. Those are Aleksandar Sedlar and Hugo Novoa who are not thought to have serious issues. 

Manu Sánchez, Santiago Mouriño, Ander Guevara, Antonio Blanco and Tomás Conechny are all in with a good chance of returning to the eleven, while Kike García, Asier Villalibre and Toni Martínez are competing for one position up top. 

As for Barcelona, not much has changed since midweek, with Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araújo, Gavi, Andreas Christensen, Fermín López, Dani Olmo and Marc Bernal their seven injury absentees. 

Not much is likely to change in terms of the starting eleven either, although Eric García is likely to return at the base of the midfield having served a suspension against Young Boys. 

Barcelona vs Alaves Odds

The visitors head into this match as the 8/15 favourites. You can back Alavés to inflict a second league defeat on Barça in as many matches at 9/2, while the Draw is available at 18/5. 

You can back Both teams to score at 4/6, a winning bet in six of the Catalan clubs's eight league matches this term and also in six of the last eight meetings between this pair. Over 3.5 goals is priced at 6/4, while you can back Over 4.5 goals at 100/30 which has landed in four of Barcelona's last five league fixtures. 

If you see the home team competing well in this match, Alavés or Draw is available at 6/4 in the Double Chance market, while you can back Alavés to win either half at 9/5. 

Alavés are also available at 5/2 to score Over 1.5 goals across the 90 minutes, while you can back Barcelona Over 2.5 goals at 13/8. 

Given the tendency of the Basque side to rotate their attacking players, it's hard to look past the visiting options in the goalscorer markets. In-form Robert Lewandowski leads the way at 7/2 to score first and 1/1 to score anytime. You can also get odds of 7/4 for Raphinha to score anytime, while Lamine Yamal is priced at 2/1 to do likewise. 

Bet 1 - Barcelona & Over 2.5 goals @ 23/20 

This game comes five days on from Tuesday night and the least strenuous of workouts for Barça in the Champions League. With a number of stars having also been rested last time out in the league, fatigue shouldn't be a massive issue for the visitors here, despite what has been a very busy schedule. 

That bodes well for their chances of producing their best football and so far this season, their peaks have been very high indeed. They have taken risks which has created gaps at the back at times and Alavés are certainly capable of getting on the scoresheet, but I fancy the away team's extra quality will be telling over 90 minutes. 

As a result, I'm backing Barcelona and Over 2.5 goals at 6/5, a winning bet in six of their eight league fixtures this term. 

Bet 2 - Lamine Yamal 1+ shots on target & Robert Lewandowski 1+ shots on target @ 83/100 

Flick was able to take Lewandowski and Yamal off with 15 minutes to go in midweek and there's no reason to think both players won't start this game. 

At opposing ends of their careers, the pair have both been excellent this season, with a combined total of 14 goals in all competitions. Even in defeat at El Sadar last weekend, both managed to have shots on target, with Yamal coming off the bench to score a brilliant consolation goal. 

Both players are averaging more than three shots per game in La Liga and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Lamine Yamal 1+ shots on target and Robert Lewandowski 1+ shots on target at 83/100 here. 

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out Mark's La Liga Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...