Las Palmas vs Barcelona predictions: Barca could be frustrated
- Las Palmas's league games have averaged just 1.67 goals per game this season
- Barcelona failed to win three of their last four competitive games in 2023
- Recommended bet: Under 2.5 goals
Barcelona have work to do in this season's LaLiga title race with both Real Madrid and Girona seven points ahead of them after 18 games.
Xavi's men are level on points with Atletico Madrid and are only a few positive results away from being right back in the mix, but they could be in for a tough match in the Canary Islands on Thursday.
Hosts Las Palmas know how to make life tough for their opponents and are nestled in the mid-table positions in LaLiga with seven wins, four draws and seven defeats to their name.
Team news
Alvaro Lemos is sidelined for the hosts, who could also be without Fabio Gonzalez and Alberto Moleiro. Julian Araujo, meanwhile, is ineligible to face his parent club.
Pedri is unavailable for Barcelona and joins Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso and Gavi on the sidelines.
Frenkie de Jong, however, is back from suspension.
The stats
Las Palmas have conceded only 15 goals in their 18 league fixtures this season.
Each of their last six fixtures in LaLiga have featured under 2.5 goals with their four league games in December producing a total of just six goals.
They have lost just one of their last five games in all competitions.
Barcelona, meanwhile, collected only seven points from a possible 12 in LaLiga in December.
Prediction
Las Palmas are no pushovers in LaLiga and this could be a testing visit to the Canary Islands for Barcelona.
They have been especially tough to crack on their own patch, having lost only one of their eight home league games, conceding only five times in the process.
With that in mind, punters should not rush to back Barcelona, who lost to Girona, drew with Valencia and only just edged past lowly Almeria 3-2 in their last three games of 2023.
Instead, punters should look at backing a low-scoring contest at the Gran Canaria Stadium.
Las Palmas have seen an average of only 1.67 goals per game in LaLiga this season, conceding only 15 goals but also scoring only 15.
They are a team reliant on defensive resilience, as demonstrated by the fact they kept clean sheets against Getafe and Alaves in December.
And while they could deny Barcelona victory in this match, they should also be fancied to limit the damage even if they do lose against the Catalan giants, so go for a low-scoring contest.
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