Match Preview: Alaves vs Barcelona Predictions, Team News & H2H

Alaves vs Barcelona predictions

Alaves vs Barcelona predictions and match preview for Saturday’s LaLiga match. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as the Catalans aim to build on a positive result in Turin.

  • DATE: Saturday 31st October 2020
  • KICK-OFF: 21:00 (local time)
  • VENUE: Mendizorrotza
  • COMPETITION: LaLiga

Alaves vs Barcelona Preview


Alaves vs Elche predictions
Alaves stadium via Aitorval, CC BY-SA 4.0

Barcelona travel to Vitoria on Saturday evening after a week of highs and lows. They responded to Clasico defeat in the best possible manner with something of a statement win away against Juventus. It was certainly one of Barcelona’s best away Champions League performances in recent times although strong Barca showings on the road in Europe have been pretty rare occurrences of late.

The Catalans will of course be clear favourites here against a struggling Alaves side. Pablo Machin’s men did though lift themselves out of the danger zone with a key 2-0 win away to Real Valladolid last time out. Playing against ten men for close to 70 minutes, Alaves ultimately made the man advantage count with Tomas Pina and Borja Sainz netting Second Half goals to hand Pablo Machin his second victory since taking over the Basque club.

Alaves are actually level on points with Barcelona now heading into this game, although they have played two games more. It’s a Barca side that is bidding to avoid a third straight league defeat following losses against Getafe and Real Madrid.

It has been a dramatic week at Camp Nou with Josep Bartomeu and the Barcelona board resigning from their positions which many have long seen as untenable. That news was greeted with positivity from almost all sections of the Barca fanbase and you strongly suspect from within the dressing room too. However there is an element of uncertainty as to what happens next with elections upcoming and that will inevitably raise questions as to whether Ronald Koeman is even going to see this season out, regardless of how he does in matches such as this.



Head to Head

  • Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 6 Barcelona Wins.
  • Barcelona won both meetings last season by an aggregate score of 9-1.
  • The Catalans haven’t conceded on any of their last 8 trips to play Alaves.
  • They’ve won all of the last 8 meetings since a shock 2-1 Alaves win at Camp Nou in 2016.

Team News

Rodrigo Ely is a fresh injury concern for Alaves while Pere Pons remains sidelined.

Gerard Pique is available again and will start having missed the win in Turin due to suspension. Sergino Dest should rotate in while Ousmane Dembele may be in line for another start.

Predicted Alaves Starting Lineup:

Pacheco – Laguardia, Lejeune, Ximo – Duarte, Pina, Battaglia, Edgar – Jota – Joselu, Perez (3-4-1-2)

Predicted Barcelona Starting Lineup:

Neto – Alba, Pique, Lenglet, Dest – De Jong, Busquets – Fati, Griezmann, Dembele – Messi (4-2-3-1)


Alaves vs Barcelona Predictions


Score Prediction: Alaves 0-2 Barcelona

Alaves do look like one of the weakest teams in this league and they don’t have enough quality in midfield to really carve open a Barcelona defence which is at times possible to get at. The Catalans may rotate slightly but the emergence of youngsters such as Pedri makes that a bit easier and they should be able to field an eleven that is strong and fresh enough to win this game at one of their favourite away grounds.

LaLiga Betting Tips (18+)

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Read all our weekend LaLiga match previews.


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About Mark Sochon 2057 Articles
Mark is a freelance writer based in Madrid. He has been writing about Spanish football since 2014 and regularly attends and covers matches across Spain. His work has also been published by various newspapers and websites including These Football Times, World Soccer and Guardian Sport. Available for freelance work: marksochon (at) hotmail.co.uk