Barcelona vs Young Boys Prediction: Back the home win and plenty of goals

Hansi Flick has finally tasted defeat after a spectacular start to life in the Catalan capital but Tuesday's Champions League clash gives him a quick opportunity to get that winning feeling once again. TNT Sports 6 will broadcast this one live from 20:00.

Swiss side Young Boys make the relatively short trip to Spain and our Spanish football expert think this will be a big home win. Check out why as he previews the game and offers up his best Barcelona vs Young Boys Predictions for us here at Betfred Insights...

Barcelona are bidding to get their Champions League campaign up and running on Tuesday night when they host Young Boys at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.  

Hansi Flick’s side lost their opening fixture in the new league phase, going down 2-1 at Monaco. Eric García’s 10th minute red card was unquestionably a major factor in that result, but they have a good opportunity to bounce back with three points here. 

It’s seven wins from nine in all competitions for Barça this term, but their 100% start in La Liga did come to a crashing halt on Saturday, with a 4-2 loss away to Osasuna at El Sadar. 

Faced with a lengthy injury list and a hectic schedule, it was always likely that Flick was going to have to take a risk or two with his selection for at least one match prior to the international match. The weekend trip to Pamplona was seemingly judged the best moment to rotate with the likes of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha dropping to the bench. 

Barça started with two teenagers in central defence and with 22-year-old Gerard Martín at left-back, but they ran into an inspired Osasuna side that caused problems throughout, with Bryan Zaragoza and Ante Budimir among the home team’s scorers in a deserved victory. 

Questions can perhaps be asked as to why Flick needed to go so strong in last Wednesday’s home game against lowly Getafe, before resting key players in a tougher weekend fixture. However, the German was most likely conscious of the importance of this game with victory essential for the Catalan giants as they target a top eight finish and direct passage into the Champions League round-of-16. 

On paper, this is the least challenging of Barça’s eight fixtures in the league phase. Young Boys are among the rank outsiders for the competition and will do really well to avoid finishing as one of the bottom 12 teams who will be eliminated before the knockout stage. 

They’ve already defied the odds to reach this point, upsetting Galatasaray with an impressive 4-2 aggregate win in the Champions League play-off round. The Swiss champions won both legs of that tie with a late goal from 21-year-old Alan Virginius sealing a 1-0 second leg win in Istanbul to secure a famous victory. 

Young Boys never made it past the group stage in the old format of the Champions League though and lost home and away against both Manchester City and RB Leipzig last season. 

They kicked off this season’s league phase against English opposition and started quite brightly against Aston Villa. However, the Premier League side soon gained control of the game, ultimately running out comfortable 3-0 winners to leave Patrick Rahmen’s team with the daunting task of heading into games against Barcelona and Inter without any points. 

A quick glance at the Swiss Super League standings, also suggests the prospects of an upset on Tuesday are incredibly slim.  

Having won just one of their opening eight league games, Young Boys are currently just one place off the bottom of a division they won convincingly last term. They travel to Barcelona on the back of a 1-0 home defeat against Grasshopper Club on Saturday. 

Team News: 

Having lost on matchday one, Flick is unlikely to take many chances with his team selection here and we should see Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casadó and Iñigo Martínez all return after weekend rests. 

The hosts are still missing Dani Olmo, Marc Bernal, Fermín López, Andreas Christensen, Gavi, Ronald Araújo and Marc-André ter Stegen to injuries. Meanwhile, Eric García is suspended after seeing red in Monaco. There’s better news regarding Frenkie de Jong who is training again and could make the bench. 

As for Young Boys, they’ll have to do without the injured Facinet Conte, Saidy Janko and Patric Pfeiffer. 

The Swiss champions lined up with a 4-2-3-1 system against Aston Villa. They’re likely to go with Silvere Ganvoula leading the line again here, while Joël Monteiro, who scored twice in the play-off round against Galatasaray, is perhaps their most dangerous attacking player. 

Barcelona vs Young Boys Odds

Barcelona are the red-hot favourites at 1/12 to win this game, with Draw priced at 10/1 and Young Boys on offer at 22/1 to cause an enormous upset. 

For bigger returns on the hosts, you can back Barcelona -2.00 Handicap at 7/10, while Barcelona -3.00 Handicap is priced at 8/5.  

You can also back the Catalans to win both halves at 7/10. Barcelona Over 2.5 goals and Barcelona Over 6.5 corners is available at 21/20 via the Bet Builder. 

If you fancy the Swiss side to be competitive, odds of 21/20 for Young Boys +3.00 Handicap may appeal. You can also back Young Boys to win either half at 13/2. 

They’ll most likely need to do a lot of defending in this match though and there are plenty of strong goalscorer candidates in the home team. Robert Lewandowski leads the way at 4/9 to score anytime and 2/1 to score two or more. 

Meanwhile, Raphinha is on offer at 10/11 to score anytime, while Lamine Yamal is priced at 11/10 to get on the scoresheet. You can also back visiting striker Silvere Ganvoula to score anytime at 9/2. 

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

Bet 1 - Barcelona win & Over 3.5 goals @ 4/6 

This feels like a football match that should only go in one direction. Flick will be hungry for a strong response from his team following defeat on matchday one and at the weekend in La Liga.  

Overall though, there has been much to like about Barça this season since the change in the dugout. They are averaging 2.89 goals per game in all competitions with Raphinha, Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal all in fine form up top.

With Young Boys currently just one place off the bottom of their own league and having been a distant second best in their opening Champions League fixture, this could be a long night for the Swiss side. I’m backing Barcelona to win and Over 3.5 goals at 4/6. 

Bet 2 - Lamine Yamal 1+ assists @ 8/5 

Even as he was rested for the first time this season, Lamine Yamal couldn’t help but steal some of the limelight, coming off the bench to score a superb long-range goal in the 4-2 weekend defeat against Osasuna. 

He’s developing into a player who is scoring and creating goals at a frequency that is certainly way beyond the capabilities of any other 17-year-old at the top level. In nine appearances for his club, the teenager is on five goals and five assists this season.

He also assisted for Spain against Switzerland in the Nations League in the recent international break, having created a tournament high four goals at Euro 2024. 

With that kind of form behind him and in such a favourable fixture, I’m backing Lamine Yamal 1+ assists at 8/5 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...