Barcelona vs Real Valladolid Prediction: Back Olmo to score again

It has been three wins from three for Barcelona to open their La Liga campaign and they have every chance of making it four from four against Real Valladolid on Saturday (16:00), Premier Sports 1.

Our Spanish football expert Mark Sochon previews the match and offers up his Best Betting Tips as he takes us through his Barcelona vs Real Valladolid predictions...

After a hat-trick of 2-1 wins, Barcelona are top of La Liga, with the significant added bonus of a four point advantage on the Madrid clubs, as we head into matchday four. 

Not least given the relatively limited options available to him in the opening games, Hansi Flick would have jumped at that scenario had he been offered it a fortnight ago. With newly promoted Real Valladolid the visitors on Saturday, they have an excellent chance of extending that 100% start into the international break. 

The fact that all three wins came by a single goal margin, does point to the reality that it hasn’t been totally plain sailing for Barça. They’ve had to come from behind twice, but even the most pessimistic of Culers would have been encouraged by what they showed after the interval against Rayo Vallecano in midweek. 

Trailing against their bogey team, on a ground they’d not won at in the league since 2018, Flick sent his side out with the kind of intensity and purpose that we rarely saw last season in truth. 

It was a really strong Second Half display from the Catalans as they piled the pressure on the home goal. Eventually that told, with a goal from Pedri and a debut strike from Dani Olmo sealing a 2-1 win, while Robert Lewandowski also had a goal chalked off by VAR. 

Olmo had only just been registered in time for the game, but really caught the eye in the advanced midfield role in which he thrived for Spain at Euro 2024. It was international teammate Lamine Yamal who set up his winning strike on 82 minutes and that understanding should help the former RB Leipzig man slot comfortably into this side. 

Barcelona had hoped to also bring in Nico Williams to round off the Spain Euros reunion, but given how difficult it proved to get Olmo registered, there is little prospect of that deal or any other major business being completed as we approach the transfer deadline. 

Whether there’s sufficient depth in this squad for Barça to go the distance in this title race remains very much up for debate, but the early signs are positive for the Flick era and they’ll expect to win this game. 

Real Valladolid were promoted back to La Liga at the first attempt, following a second place finish in the Segunda División last season. The fixture computer dealt them a proper mixed bag of opening games with home fixtures against their fellow newly promoted teams, as well as trips to Real Madrid and Barcelona, forming their opening four matches. 

Their Uruguayan boss Paulo Pezzolano would probably have settled for a return of four points heading into the international break given the difficulty of those road games, and they’ve already hit that mark thanks to a 1-0 win over Espanyol and 0-0 draw against Leganés. 

This game may feel like something of a free hit as a result, but they can take some encouragement from the way they competed for more than 85 minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu last weekend. 

The new boys did ask some questions on the break in that game, and with a bit more composure in front of goal, might have got on the scoresheet. However, they failed to hit the target with any of their eight attempts, ending up on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline with Los Blancos killing the match off with 88th and 96th minute strikes. 

Team News: 

Barça’s midweek win did come at a cost, with youngster Marc Bernal cruelly suffering an ACL injury, just when it was starting to look like he could be a genuine solution to his team’s shortage of options at the base of the midfield. The 17-year-old is unlikely to return until the final weeks of the season and joins Gavi, Ronald Araújo, Frenkie de Jong and Andreas Christensen on the sidelines. 

The home team also have doubts over Eric García and Ansu Fati heading into this game. Flick is expected to hand a first start to new signing Dani Olmo after the big impression he made off the bench in midweek, while Marc Casadó and Fermín López are the main options to replace Bernal. 

As for the visitors, we saw them rotate heavily in Madrid last weekend and Pezzolano may look to bring in some fresh legs again here. They’ve signed Real Madrid midfielder Mario Martín and Valencia defender Cenk Ozkacar on loan this week and both are likely to be part of the matchday squad. Anuar Mohamed is their only notable injury concern. 

Barcelona vs Real Valladolid Odds

Barcelona come into the game as the 1/4 favourites to make it four wins from four to start the season. Real Valladolid are out at a distant 11/1 while you can back the Draw at 5/1. 

You can get odds of 8/1 for Barça to win 2-1, a winning bet in all of their last four league games. Alternatively, there are many options if you’re expecting a more convincing home victory with Flick’s side available at 21/20 to win to nil, while you can back Barcelona -1.00 Handicap at 4/6 and Barcelona -2.00 at 13/8. 

Both teams to score is priced at 5/6 while Over 3.5 goals is at 11/10. You can also back Barça to score in both halves at 7/10 while Real Valladolid are on offer at 4/5 to score once or more. 

With three goals in three games so far this term, Robert Lewandowski is the 11/4 favourite to score first, while he’s on offer at 4/6 to score anytime in the match. You can also get odds of 7/5 for Raphinha to score anytime. Lamine Yamal is available at 9/5 to do likewise. 

From a Real Valladolid perspective, you can back Raúl Moro to score anytime at 6/1. The 21-year-old is the only visiting player to score so far this term and he also went close at the Bernabéu last Sunday. 

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

Bet 1 - Barcelona to win, Over 2.5 goals & Over 6.5 corners @ 10/11 

The hosts take momentum into this game after three wins, and particularly after the way they played in the final 45 minutes in Vallecas. They can’t afford to take Real Valladolid lightly, as we have seen some positive signs from the newly promoted side, but the reality remains that there is a very significant gulf in terms of quality. 

The failure to register a clean sheet yet does suggest Barça do have defensive flaws to iron out, but they should continue to look to play on the front foot under their new boss.  

Given that, I’m using the #PickYourPunt tool to back Barcelona to win, Over 2.5 goals and Over 6.5 corners at 17/20 here. That bet has landed in all of their games so far this season, all of which have featured 11 or more corners. 

Bet 2 - Dani Olmo to score anytime @ 13/8 

After such an impactful debut and with a shortage of midfield options, it’s hard to see Dani Olmo not starting this game. While he didn’t always set the world on fire in the Bundesliga, he’s clearly a player who is on the very top of his game right now and looks to have arrived at his new club feeling confident and capable of making an immediate impression. 

Olmo was the joint golden boot winner at Euro 2024 with three goals for champions Spain. After coming on at the interval in midweek, he scored and hit the woodwork on his debut for his boyhood club, and I’m backing Olmo to score anytime at 13/8 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...