Barcelona - Sevilla Betting: Messi leads the betting but Rakitic the value bet to score

The Croatian has already scored against his former team in a Blaugrana shirt and given the standard of his preseason performances, he should be backed to do so again tonight
If this has been one of the highest scoring La Liga fixtures of the last few seasons, then in theory we should have plenty of options for picking a goalscorer bet in tonight's game.

Of course the sides are meeting in the Uefa Super Cup and not in the Spanish top flight but that does not diminish the likelihood of goals and as a result, goalscorers.

It is perhaps important to note that there are two significant absentees from the two games that the sides played last season which served up a total of 10 goals, with Barcelona deprived of the services of Neymar who is suffering from mumps, and Sevilla having sold their star striker in Carlos Bacca.

The Colombian netted 28 times last season for Unai Emery's men who are likely to miss his feverish presence in the opposition penalty area.

They have replaced him with Ciro Immobile and the Italian poses something of a risk given his underwhelming year with Borussia Dortmund. Whether or not Immobile goes into the starting line-up immediately remains to be seen with French forward Kevin Gameiro likely to be battling for the same position.

bet365 offer the Italian at 10/3 (4.33) to score on his debut, while the curious figure of Gameiro who can fluctuate from unconvincing to spectacular with relative ease is offered at 4/1 (5.00) to net at anytime.

Barca meanwhile will be without Neymar although his place should be covered with relative ease by Pedro,
in what may or may not be the Canarian winger's last game for the club. The Spanish international, strongly linked with a move to the Premier League, has scored some big goals during his career with the Catalans and he is third favorite to score this evening at 6/5 (2.20).

Leading the way, naturally, is Lionel Messi who having returned early back from his holidays looks in good shape both mentally and physically. The disappointment of Argentina's Copa America final loss would have hurt the forward as much as the ensuing criticism he received in his homeland but he looks to have put that firmly behind him and can be backed at 8/15 (1.53) to strike this evening, or at a more attractive 13/5 (3.60) to open the scoring.

bet365 will pay out on unlimited places for each way first goalscorer bets, meaning no matter when your selection scores, if he does so after the firs goal goes in, you'll be paid out at a third of the odds, unlike most bookmaker which limit this to the first three goals in the game.

There is one man who knows these two sides better than anyone else - actually there are a few with Dani Alves and Adriano both having swapped the Sanchez Pizjuan for the Camp Nou - but Barca's latest recruit from the capital of Andalusia, Ivan Rakitic, had perhaps more of the bond with Sevilla than many players to have featured for the club.

Last season when he scored against them at the Camp Nou his celebration was muted and at the end of their pulsating league draw in Seville, he went over to the Sevilla ultras to clap and thank them.

This is a special game for the Croatian who is showing himself to be a truly special player. In pre-season he has looked sharp and ready for the new campaign, with his stunning goal against AS Roma in the Gamper
Trophy last week proof of this. Rakitic is offered at 15/4 (4.75) to score once more against his former club and this looks like a great value bet for tonight's game.