Barcelona haven’t lost a match in Seville since January 2011. Fifteen years. That streak is now walking into the most dangerous possible trap: a perfect, 8-for-8 Barcelona side rolling into La Liga’s in-form team, sandwiched between a trip to Paris Saint-Germain and El Clásico the following weekend. If there’s ever a game where Hansi Flick’s players have one eye on the calendar, this is it.

Barcelona arrive top of the table on a 10-match winning streak in all competitions, having scored 34 goals in just eight league games and dispatched Galatasaray 4-1 in midweek. Real Betis sit third, five points back, winners of five of their last six matches, having already beaten Real Madrid at home this season, and riding their own midweek statement, a 3-2 win over Porto in the Champions League. Kick-off is 6:30 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. ET) at Estadio de la Cartuja.

The Real Story: A Trap Game Before PSG and El Clásico

Here’s what makes this more interesting than your average top-vs-third clash. Right after this, Barcelona travel to PSG in the Champions League, then host Real Madrid in El Clásico the weekend after that. Three enormous games in eleven days, with the softest-looking one sitting first on the calendar against a Betis side that’s anything but soft. And there’s a genuine wrinkle in the history here: Betis’s only two wins over Barcelona in recent seasons both came at Camp Nou, not in Seville, including a 5-3 Barcelona win in this exact fixture last December. Betis have simply never solved Barcelona on their own turf. Saturday is their best shot in years to finally do it, at the exact moment Flick might be tempted to protect legs for Paris.

Team News: Who’s Actually Available

Betis are missing Junior Firpo (groin) and Aitor Ruibal (knee), but otherwise Manuel Pellegrini has his full squad to pick from. Cucho Hernández returns at center-forward after starting on the bench against Porto, with Antony likely dropping out in favor of Rodrigo Riquelme on the right. Isco remains the creative engine, and Pablo Fornals returns to the midfield.

For Barcelona, the headline is the return of Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong, both back in full training, though both look set for the bench rather than a start, Flick is still managing Raphinha’s recent thigh issue carefully. That likely opens a spot up front for Gabriel Jesus, though Dani Olmo, who played as a false nine against Galatasaray, is another option Flick could turn to. Eric García picked up a cut to his knee in midweek but is available. Andreas Christensen (thigh) and Roony Bardghji (knee) remain out.

Predicted Lineups

Real Betis (4-2-3-1): Vallés; Bellerín, Llorente, Natan, García; Fornals, Roca; Riquelme, Isco, Ezzalzouli; Hernández

Barcelona (4-3-3): J. García; E. García, Cubarsí, Martín, Espart; Fermín, Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Jesus, Gordon

These are projected lineups. Confirmed teams are typically released about an hour before kickoff.

Prediction: Real Betis 2-4 Barcelona

Betis will score, they always seem to find a way against the big sides at home, and Isco and Cucho both have the quality to punish Barcelona on the break. But this Barcelona attack doesn’t really care about trap games right now. Yamal is playing like the best winger/attacker in the sport, Jesus gives them a different kind of focal point than Raphinha or Olmo, and Pedri and Rodri should eventually strangle the game in midfield no matter how chaotic Betis try to make it. The streak survives. Barely, loudly, and with both teams scoring plenty, but it survives.

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