Sunday's La Liga and Bundesliga predictions and free football tips

Best bets and predictions for Sunday's matches in La Liga and the Bundesliga.

Best bets

Real Madrid to beat Barcelona
Premier Sports 1, 3.15pm
1pt 13-10 Betfair, Betfred

Union Berlin draw no bet v Borussia Dortmund
Sky Sports Football, 4.30pm
1pt 11-10 Betfair, Hills, PaddyPower

Sunday preview

Barcelona have handled nearly everything that has been thrown at them in La Liga this season but Sunday's El Clasico clash with an equally impressive Real Madrid will be the team's acid test.

Both El Clasico clubs have racked up seven wins and one draw from eight matches this season but Barca lead the way on goal difference, having conceded only once in the league this term.

They also possess the division's standout marksman in Robert Lewandowski, who has bagged nine league goals already this term, but punters might want to be wary of rushing in to back the Catalan giants.

There is an argument that Barcelona have had the look of flat-track bullies this term, swatting aside a string of mediocre sides domestically - Real Sociedad and underperforming Sevilla are the only big names they have faced in La Liga - but crumbling against the big guns in Europe.

In the Champions League this term, they have lost to Bayern Munich and took only a point from two games with Inter, leaving them on the brink of a group-stage elimination.

They simply have not looked equipped to handle the big occasions, whereas that is exactly when Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid thrive.

The reigning champions of Europe are better at managing games of this magnitude having won five of the last six El Clasicos - March's 4-0 defeat to Barcelona looks to be a bizarre blot on an otherwise impressive copybook.

Barcelona are again expected to be light on options at the back for this one with Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo expected to miss out and they are worth opposing at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Union Berlin lead the way in Germany this season having won six of their nine matches to go top of the Bundesliga, and they are worth backing against Borussia Dortmund.

Capital club Union slipped up away to Eintracht Frankfurt at the start of the month but responded with a resolute 1-0 win over Stuttgart last time out and they have beaten Malmo by the same scoreline home and away either side of that victory.

Spearheaded by exciting duo Sheraldo Becker and Jordan Pefok, who have nine Bundesliga goals between them this term, they should be brimming with confidence for the clash with Dortmund.

Die Schwarzgelben are only four points off leaders Union Berlin but a return of 13 goals in nine games speaks volumes about their lack of a focal point in attack and they have dropped points in three of their last four games in all competitions.

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