The focus is on Spain and the great derby: Accumulator Tip for December 21

On Saturday, we can expect a lot of interesting duels across Europe. In my opinion, one of the most interesting matches, maybe one of the best this season, will be played at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, where Barcelona will host Atletico Madrid. Arsenal will have a small London derby against Crystal Palace, while in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen will welcome Freiburg in an attempt to get another three points and keep up in the title race.

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid (Spain, La Liga)

Barcelona: L-W-D-W-L

Atletico Madrid: W-W-W-W-W

In the derby of the 18th round of the Spanish La Liga, Barcelona will welcome Atletico Madrid. This is a duel between teams that are tied for first place in the table, but the away team has a game in hand. After a 1-0 home defeat to Leganes last weekend, Barcelona have won just five of a possible 18 points in their last six La Liga matches. As a result, their lead at the top of the table has been reduced to their next opponent, second-placed Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid’s coach Diego Simeone will be desperate if they fail to end their run of away defeats, as a win would allow his team to take first place. However, Simeone has never beaten Barcelona away from home in La Liga and has lost 20 of their 36 meetings. But given his team's form, of wins in 11 consecutive games in all competitions, including six in La Liga, Simeone could have his best chance of ending that run. Barcelona have an elite attacking game and are likely to score more goals against any opponent, but they have serious problems in defense and are unlikely to keep a clean sheet. In their last ten games, they have kept just one clean sheet. Atletico Madrid are in excellent form, having won their last 11 games and scored 31 goals, so they should be expected to score against Barcelona, suggesting a high-intensity game, with at least three goals expected throughout the match.

• Bet: Over 2.5

Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg (Germany, Bundesliga)

Bayer Leverkusen: W-W-W-W-W

Freiburg: W-D-L-W-L

Bayer Leverkusen will host Freiburg at the BayArena stadium in the 15th round of the German Bundesliga. This is a duel between the second and fifth-place teams in the standings, with the difference between them being five points. Bayer Leverkusen managed to overcome Augsburg, who had a strong home form, and achieved their seventh consecutive victory in all competitions. More importantly, they reduced the gap to leaders Bayern Munich from seven to four points. Freiburg were one of the few teams to score in both of their head-to-head matches with Leverkusen last season, but in the end, they were defeated both times. This time, Freiburg will hope to prevent Leverkusen from quickly taking control, as they have opened the scoring in their last three league matches and converted them into seven out of a possible nine points. In this match, Bayer Leverkusen are a clear favorite due to home-field advantage, form, standings, and head-to-head record, and anything but a home win would be a real surprise. Therefore, I expect a convincing victory for Leverkusen, with at least a two-goal difference.

• Bet: Over 2.5

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal (England, Premer League)

Crystal Palace: L-W-D-W-D

Arsenal: W-D-W-D-W

Crystal Palace and Arsenal will meet in the match of the 17th round of the Premier League. The venue for this match will be the Selhurst Park stadium in London. Crystal Palace go into this game hoping to end a run of four successive league defeats against Arsenal. Although they lost at the Emirates in midweek, their fighting performance and Jean-Philippe Matete's early goal brought a dose of optimism for the second leg in front of the home crowd. Under Oliver Glasner, Palace have lost just one of their last eight league games and after an impressive 3-1 win over Brighton, they have the chance to make it two wins in a row for the first time since May. Arsenal go into this game with a win imperative to stay in the race for the top of the Premier League table. After two consecutive draws, the Gunners are six points behind leaders Liverpool, but with a game in hand. In the last round, they drew at home against Everton, which further increased the pressure on coach Mikel Arteta to find solutions in attack. I expect a hard and fighting game during all 90 minutes. Although Arsenal are favorites to win, I believe that they will achieve an easy and dominant triumph. However, I think that Mikel Arteta's team will win all three points in this London derby, mostly because of the individual quality of the teams.

• Bet: W2