La Liga Matchday 2: Barcelona vs. Cadiz Odds
Barcelona Go For First Win in Home Opener
Title Defense Off to Rocky Start for Barcelona
Barcelona’s home ground, the Camp Nou, is being renovated. So, Barcelona have a temporary new home for the 2023-24 season, the Barcelona Olympic Stadium. In their first match there, they’ll host Cadiz, who won their first match of the season. Barcelona could only muster a disappointing draw at Getafe to open up their title defense. As FCB go for their first win of the season, we’ll look at the Barcelona vs. Cadiz odds.
Barcelona vs. Cadiz
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Head-to-Head
Last season, Barcelona won both La Liga games they played vs. Cadiz. In fact, Barça shutout Cadiz twice and outscored them 6-0 over the two meetings. Robert Lewandowski managed to score in both fixtures. However, this has been a competitive matchup over the last few years. In the last six La Liga meetings, both teams have two wins along with two draws.
Barcelona Off to Slow Start
Last weekend Barcelona were active in the transfer market but as sellers, not buyers. Franck Kessie joined Saudi side Al-Ahli after just one season in Barcelona. Ousmane Dembele became Barcelona’s second-most expensive signing ever back in 2017, but things never quite panned out for him in Catalonia. Dembele’s tenure was injury-plagued, and he sealed a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain for less than half the price Barcelona paid for him.
Barça opened up their season on the road at Getafe but couldn’t find the net. Raphinha picked up a red card for elbowing an opponent in the first half and will be suspended for the match vs. Cadiz. Robert Lewandowski led the La Liga stats last season with 21 goals, but he couldn’t get going vs. Getafe. However, two new midfielders did make their debuts, as both Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan started the match for Xavi’s side.
Now, Barcelona seriously need all three points vs. Cadiz on Sunday. The latest Barcelona vs. Cadiz odds price Barça as heavy favorites, but their home opener isn’t at their usual home ground. This could be a transitional season for Barcelona as captain Sergio Busquets and longtime defender Jordi Alba departed the club to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. Still, they have a ton of talent on the roster and some exciting young players coming through the ranks.
Cadiz Fighting for Survival
Despite being La Liga’s joint-lowest scoring team in 2022-23, Cadiz finished 14th place, two points ahead of the relegation zone. No Cadiz played scored more than four La Liga goals last season, and the club hierarchy haven’t exactly addressed their goal scoring needs in the transfer market. Still, Cadiz did manage to pick up a 1-0 win in their season opener vs. Alaves.
Fede San Emeterio scored his first Cadiz goal on a header from a whipped in Javi Hernandez cross. Both teams created other chances but that ended up being the only goal of the match. Now, Cadiz have Barcelona on their La Liga schedule, which starts a rough stretch for them. From now until October 1st, they take on Barcelona, Almeria, Osasuna, Athletic Club, Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Atlético Madrid.
So, Cadiz need all of the points they can get in their bid to avoid relegation once again. Their current spell in the top flight began in 2020 but they haven’t finished above 12th since. Cadiz did manage to make loans for Sergi Guardiola and Gonzalo Escalante permanent this Summer. Both players scored three goals last season but Escalante picked up a red card vs. Alaves and is out for this match. Winger Darwin Machis also made his Cadiz debut last weekend.
Match Analysis & Odds
According to the latest Barcelona vs. Cadiz odds, FCB are two goal favorites for Sunday’s match. They beat Cadiz by two goals at home last season and are priced at +120 odds to cover here. Meanwhile, Cadiz +2 comes in at -140 odds as they’re looking to pick up points for a fifth time in their last seven matches vs. Barcelona.
It is exceedingly rare that Barcelona fail to score in consecutive matches. In fact, it only happened once all of last season. Still, under three goals show -120 odds as Cadiz have failed to score in three of their last four games vs. Barça. Given Ousmane Dembele’s transfer to PSG and Raphinha’s suspension, Ansu Fati should get an opportunity to start on the wing for Barcelona.
Barcelona are -432 moneyline favorites for the match and Robert Lewandowski figures to be a handful for Cadiz. Meanwhile, Cadiz are massive +1181 underdogs but did manage to defeat Barcelona on the road in April 2022. A draw shows +535 odds and Cadiz would certainly be more pleased with that result than Barcelona.
