Arsenal vs. Barcelona 2016: Prediction

Victory still means that Barcelona will arrive in London on a 13-match winning streak, ignoring a 1-1 draw with Valencia in a Copa del Rey tie that had already been ended with a 7-0 first leg win for the Catalans. In those 13 matches, Barcelona have scored 43 goals—an average of more than three per game.

Rather than slowing up as would be understandable after winning the treble last season, Barcelona are arguably sharper than ever. They are strong favorites to become the first club in the Champions League era to retain the European Cup. And much of that is down to the front three, which, with goals from Suárez and Neymar on Saturday, took their combined tally for the season to 85 goals.


That rest may ultimately do the over-worked 27-year-old some good. Yet heading into Arsenal’s toughest test of the season, their key attacking threat has yet to get fully back up to speed, scoring just once in six games since his return. If there ever was a time for Sánchez to show the full range of his enormous talent then it is on Tuesday against the team that two years ago decided they could do better.