The two sides have a long and bitter rivalry and even at this early stage of the season, victory for Barca could all but wrap-up the La Liga title. After a summer of uncertainty, the Blaugrana have started the campaign in sparkling style and are yet to be beaten at both home and abroad.

A number of questions have been asked about the team following the departure of the legendary Pep Guardiola but his assistant Tito Vilanova has stepped-up with aplomb and his side showed both their ability and unity by netting two late goals to beat Sevilla last Saturday. They followed this up with a win over Benfica on Tuesday but that result provided more questions than answers for Vilanova, as the returning Carles Puyol suffered an horrific elbow injury.

This means the Catalans are likely to rely on Javier Mascherano and Alex Song at the back and, while both have spent plenty of time in defence, they could hardly be described as naturals. The injury crisis ensures that Sergio Busquets’ (15/2 to score at anytime) performance becomes even more important as he will be the man charged with shielding the duo. Busquets is widely regarded as the best defensive midfielder in the world and his ability to break-up play and track runners will be massive on Sunday.

In contrast to their rivals, Real have had a difficult opening few months of the campaign and currently sit sixth in the table, eight points behind Barcelona. This means the visit to the Nou Camp is an almost must win game for Jose Mourinho’s men and they will go into the clash eying all three points.

Los Blancos were expected to kick-on from last season’s La Liga victory but have looked disjointed at times, with Mourinho trying a number of combinations in both defence and midfield in an attempt to find a solution. The Portuguese boss usually tries to suffocate Barca in these games and is likely to employ three defensive midfielders to counter their attacking threat.

This means Cristiano Ronaldo’s (11/10 to score at anytime) pace on the break will prove even more important and having effectively scored the goal that won the title last term against another makeshift Barcelona defence, he will fancy his chances of once again silencing the Nou Camp faithful.

Like all the games between these two sides, this has the potential for fireworks and with so much talent on display, it’s sure to be an intriguing tussle. However, with Barcelona’s current defensive issues, Madrid have the perfect man to take advantage in Ronaldo and his ability to find the net in big games could see his side through (Madrid 14/1 to win 2-1).

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