Newly-promoted Numancia won the Segunda Liga comfortably last season by 5 points from Malaga and Gijon; they have not bought any player of note and this could be a worry, but they will be hoping to follow the example of last-season’s promoted side Almeria, who finished 9th without signing many established names – also, Almeria were not beaten at home by a top 5 side last season.

Barcelona were poor by their standards last season, finishing 3rd, and heads rolled as a result; Rijkaard, Ronaldinho, Deco, Zambrotta and Edmilson are all gone and in come Dani Alves, Hleb, Pique and former Barcelona great Josep Guardiola has taken over as manager.

Guardiola’s only coaching experience was with the Barcelona reserves, where he gained promotion to the Segunda B division last season; his first competitive first-team fixtures against Wisla Krakow in the Champions’ League 3rd qualifying round were a mixed bag, with Barcelona winning 4-0 at home and losing in Poland 0-1.

Match Betting Previews 29-31 August 2008 >>> UEFA Super Cup: - Man Utd v Zenit Premiership: Arsenal v Newcastle - Bolton v WBA - Everton v Portsmouth - Hull v Wigan - Middlesbrough v Stoke - West Ham v Blackburn - Aston Villa v Liverpool - Chelsea v Spurs - Sunderland v Man City La Liga: Deportivo v Real Madrid - Numancia v Barcelona - Valencia v Mallorca Serie A: Sampdoria v Inter - Fiorentina v Juventus - Roma v Napoli Bundesliga: Leverkusen v Hoffenheim - Bayern v Hertha Ligue 1: Marseille v Sochaux - St Etienne v Lyon Superliga: Benfica v FC Porto SPL: Celtic v Rangers

Barcelona are big favourites at $1.52, and while this is understandable because of the clear difference in quality, there is no value in this price and the Barca win is by no means certain. Barcelona’s poor away record (5-8-6) was the main reason for their relatively poor league performance, and they did not enjoy playing in unfamiliar surroundings; they drew away against two of the three promoted sides last season (at Valladolid 1-1 and at Almeria 2-2).

Guardiola will be under pressure to mould his new-look Barcelona into a winning side and quickly; things are unlikely to go so easy to begin with, as Guardiola will still be finding his feet along with a good portion of new signings who will need time to settle.

In their only 3 home fixtures against Barcelona (all coming since 1999), Numancia have drawn all 3, with the latest coming in 2004/5 season; the Numancia draw at $4.37 from Pinnacle may be worth going for, with low stakes.

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Bet: Draw Odds: $4.37 Stake: 2pts Bookies: Pinnacle

Match Betting Previews 23-25 August 2008 >>> Premiership: Blackburn v Hull - Liverpool v Middlesbrough - Newcastle v Bolton - Stoke v Aston Villa - Spurs v Sunderland - WBA v Everton - Fulham v Arsenal - Wigan v Chelsea - Man City v West Ham - Portsmouth v Man Utd Bundesliga: Dortmund v Bayern - Werder v Schalke - Stuttgart v Leverkusen Ligue 1: Le Havre v Marseille - Lyon v Grenoble - Bordeaux v Nantes Champions League: Arsenal v Twente - Liverpool v Standard - Atletico v Schalke