Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt enter their Europa League quarter-final second leg all square. Liam Kelly has picked out an interesting bet in a player prop market.
Football betting tips: Europa League
1.5pts Pedri 2+ total shots at Evens (Sky Bet)
Although Barcelona's form under Xavi has been nothing short of exceptional in La Liga, it hasn't quite translated to the European stage just yet.
After scraping past Galatasaray in the round of 16, they were unconvincing in a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt last week, recording just 0.45 expected goals (xG) in Germany.
Barcelona v Eintracht Frankfurt (agg: 1-1)
Kick-off time: 20:00 BST, Thursday
TV channel: BT Sport 2
Barcelona 2/5 | Draw 19/5 | E. Frankfurt 13/2
That isn't enough to put me off thinking an improved Barcelona will progress, but it does make the short price about the Catalan giants too short for any interest in a main market, especially with Eintracht's apparent ability to keep games tight.
The first leg was evidence of that, as well as their last recent Bundesliga matches, which all have fairly low xG totals for both Eintracht and their opponents.
Consequently, we can expect Oliver Glasner's side to be compact at the Camp Nou and look to hit Barca on the break.
A bi-product we can take advantage of from a betting perspective is that Barcelona might have to take shots from some difficult positions.
On current form, however, Pedri may not think it is so difficult.
He has been one of the best players on the planet recently, putting an exclamation point on some outstanding performances with vital — and spectacular — goals.
Xavi's urgings for the youngster to have more attempts on goal has certainly paid off. As a result, it might pay to back PEDRI to take 2+ TOTAL SHOTS in this game given his current role.
Pedri has averaged 2.03 shots per 90 minutes across the last six matches, scoring three times in that period. With confidence high in his technique, the evens available for the Spanish midfielder to get two or more shots away looks some value.
Barcelona v Eintracht Frankfurt best bets and score prediction
- 1.5pts Pedri 2+ total shots at Evens (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Barcelona 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt (Sky Bet odds: 13/2)
Odds correct at 1210 BST (12/04/21)
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