Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction: Team News and Lineups

The La Liga title race is heating up and our expert Nathan Joyes has provided his Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Best Bet, team news, lineups and fixtures preview.

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction: Visitors to take advantage of vulnerable defence

Spain, La Liga, Monday, February 17th, 20:00 (UK)

Real Madrid’s slip up was Barcelona’s gain as their emphatic 4-1 win against Sevilla has cut the deficit at the top to just two points. 

That’s now 11 matches without defeat across all competitions for Hansi Flick’s side, who’s attacking plays can’t be stopped at present. Two huge victories over Valencia, as well as comfortably putting four past Sevilla, Barcelona have shown everyone that the La Liga title race is far from finished.

The only negative from their win at the weekend was Fermin Lopez’s red card during his 17 minute cameo, who has been weighing in with both goals and assists of late.

Fortunately for the hosts, they have plenty of attacking talent that can fill in for the Spaniard. Robert Lewandowski scored his 19th league goal of the campaign at the weekend, while Raphinha returned to the scoresheet with his 13th of the season in just 23 La Liga appearances.

Life is rather rosey for Barcelona right now, but there’s work still to do.

They may be winning, but they’ve kept just three cleans in their last 10 matches. Those have come against Valencia in the Copa Del Rey, Alaves in the league and Athletic Bilbao in a tight tussle in the Super Cup semi-final.

Their defensive vulnerability is somewhat going under the radar due to the amount of goals they are producing – but conceding four against Benfica, two against Atalanta and goals vs Betis, Valencia, Sevilla and Getafe are a cause for concern.

And next up is a tough test for anyone in the league at present, and that includes Barcelona.

Rayo Vallecano head to Barcelona’s temporary home with the best league form from their last five matches. Having won 13 points from their last five, scoring seven and conceding just three, they’ve moved into 6th place – creating a four point gap between them and Real Sociedad in 7th.

However, although one could argue that their form has been against lower-half teams, only a few weeks ago Atletico Madrid lost against Leganes – as have Barcelona – yet Rayo Vallecano beat them 1-0 during their best run this campaign.

They don’t have a prolific goalscorer, but clearly aren’t reliant on one individual. A huge plus for them heading into this fixture is the return of Randy Nteka. The Angolan scored a brace in 16 minutes against Girona, but missed out on their win over Valladolid due to a suspension.

Their fluid 4-5-1 formation can not only be difficult to break down, but effective on the counter – which is where Barcelona are, at times, vulnerable.

Rayo Vallecano scored in their 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture, and even with Barcelona performing as well as they are, defensively they don’t seem capable of keeping clean sheets.

• Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction: BTTS Yes
• Best Odds: 2.0
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 6/10

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction odds via bet365 as at 11:00, February 10th, 2025. Odds may now differ.

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Injuries, Team News and Possible Lineups

Barcelona, as mentioned, won’t have Fermin Lopez available after his red card against Sevilla last weekend. This may allow a place on the bench for Ansu Fati who missed out on a place in the squad, who is clearly fighting to remain at the club at present. If he gets a chance, he needs to impress.

Rayo Vallecano will have Randy Nteka available after serving his one game suspension, although he’s likely to start on the bench. Aside from Jonathan Montiel who has been out virtually the entire season, the visitors have a full squad to choose from as they look to maintain their incredible run of form.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Balde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Kounde, Pedri, Casado, Raphinha, Gavi, Yamal, Lewandowski

Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Chavarria, Mumin, Lejeune, Ratiu, Ciss, Lopez, de Frutos, Palazon, Garcia, Camello

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