Valencia vs Barcelona Prediction: Barca to pile more misery on the hosts

Valencia go head-to-head with Barcelona at Estadio de Mestalla in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Thursday (20:30), and the hosts will be out for revenge. The two teams recently met in La Liga, with Barca thrashing Los Ches 7-1 at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

The home team are still threatened with relegation from the Spanish top flight but this game gives them a chance to try and gain some positivity from a campaign that is looking bleak. Read on for my Valencia vs Barcelona prediction, aided by the latest team news and match odds.

Valencia vs Barcelona Odds

Valencia have won their last two home games in all competitions but they are 6/1 to beat Barca in regulation time. This is a result of the 7-1 thrashing Los Ches suffered at the hands of the visitors on January 26.

The hosts are unbeaten in their past three appearances at Estadio de Mestalla, so the draw could be a tempting selection inside 90 minutes at 18/5, which has an implied probability of 21.7%.

Barcelona are the 2/5 favourites to prevail here considering the disparity between the two teams in La Liga, as well as the fact that they have beaten Valencia home and away in the top flight.

A more valuable selection featuring an away win would be to include both teams to score, which was a winning selection in both of their victories over Los Ches. Barcelona and BTTS is available at 8/5 on Thursday (38.5%).

BTTS on its own is marketed at 4/6, while Robert Lewandowski, who has scored three goals against Valencia this term, is the 4/5 favourite to strike in this contest.

Football Odds

Team News

Thierry Correia remains a long-term absentee for Valencia after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in October. Boss Carlos Corberan will be hoping that trio Diego Lopez, Dimitri Folquier and Enzo Barrenechea will be able to shake off knocks they picked up in Sunday's win over CeltaVigo.

Goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski should come in for number one shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili, having featured in all four of Los Ches' four appearances in this competition so far.

Corberan might feel that he needs most of his stars to try and go toe-to-toe with Barcelona, so the likes of Hugo Duro and Luis Rioja could keep their places in attack, with the latter getting on the scoresheet at the weekend.

Barca head to Valencia with injury troubles of their own. Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernai are ruled out with knee issues, while Andreas Christensen is struggling with a calf problem.

Spain international Dani Olmo will be looking to prove his fitness so that he can play in this fixture, but the attacker has been absent for his team's past four matches. Gavi is another who will need to be closely monitored following a head collision against Alaves at the weekend, so his involvement is also looking unlikely.

Given that his side have beaten Thursday's opponents twice, Barca boss Hansi Flick may consider rotating his squad a little, so starting opportunities might be presented to the likes of Eric Garcia, Fermin Lopez and Frenkie de Jong.

The impressive front three of Lewandowski, Raphinha and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal is expected to remain intact.

Barcelona and both teams to score @ 8/5

Valencia were left humiliated when they faced Barcelona less than two weeks ago. The hosts may have responded with a win on home turf last time out, but they may still be reeling from that away trip, and there may be some nerves on show in this cup tie.

Barca are the heavy favourites to come out on top and rightly so, but the value lies with adding both teams to score on Thursday, in my opinion. Los Ches have managed to score against them in both La Liga meetings this term, while the visitors have managed just two clean sheets in their past 13 competitive appearances.

After leading the way in La Liga earlier in the season, Barcelona now find themselves four points adrift of rivals Real Madrid in the title race, so Flick and his players cannot afford to take the Copa del Rey for granted. As such, the German coach should name a strong XI in Avenida Suecia, which is likely to involve his brilliant forward trio.

Lewandowski, Raphinha and Yamal are once again going to pose a huge threat to Valencia, and the former two attackers have netted four goals between them against the hosts in 2024/25.

The hosts' recent form on home soil should see them put up a better fight than their last encounter with Blaugrana, but I do believe a third defeat against the Catalonian club awaits.

Over 3.5 goals @ 6/5

Barca's attacking quality should shine through once again and the wounds from the 7-1 defeat will still be fresh, so goals are to be expected on Thursday night. Over 3.5 goals has struck in Barcelona's two previous rounds of this competition against Real Betis (5-1) and at Barbastro (4-0).

Three of their last seven outings in La liga have produced over 3.5 goals, and they are the highest scorers in the division with 60. They have already shown their proficiency in the Copa del Rey, so I think there will be more goals on offer to them when they face Valencia, who they have inflicted their heaviest defeat of the campaign upon.

Additionally, there were at least four goals scored in Valencia's second round triumph over Ejea (3-1), but this selection has only landed in two of their past seven appearances in the league.

Offers

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