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| Barcelona vs Espanyol Match Preview | Inage: FCB |
Barça return to action in the League on Sunday night when they host City rivals Espanyol in the Catalán derby at Camp Nou with a bid to continue their fine form and close the gap on leaders Real Madrid at the top of the log to 3 points.
The Catalán derby is always a game full of actions, one always looked forward to and Barça will be hoping to get all three points once again in a fixture they've won all of their last eight games in all competitions, it always comes easy at the Camp Nou against dear neighbours.
Although it always comes easy, this tie would be far from that as Espanyol are in their best form in years, unbeaten in their last 6 league games away games, keeping a clean sheet in their last four and they won't be looking to end that impressive run so soon which means Barça would need to be at full gear.
TEAM NEWS
Just as it was last week, Barcelona will be missing only Jérémy Mathieu through injury as the Frenchman is still undergoing recovery. It is still unknown who will start in central defence alongside Piqué between Mascherano and Umtiti. Rakitic is likely to return to the starting XI over André Gomes while Neymar is also set to start after returning from suspension.
For the visitors, Victor Alvarez, Hernan Perez and Leo Baptistao are still doubtful for the game. But none of them is ruled out.
BARÇA VS ESPANYOL
Date: Sunday, 18 December, 2016
Time: 8:45pm CET
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
Referee: Mateu Lahoz
PREVIOUS FIVE MEETINGS
Barcelona 5-0 Espanyol
Espanyol 0-2 Barcelona
Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol
Espanyol 0-0 Barcelona
Espanyol 0-2 Barcelona
FORM GUIDE
Barcelona: WDDDWW
Espanyol: DWWDDW
Predicted Barcelona Lineup: Marc Andre Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta; Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Neymar
Predicted Espanyol Lineup: Diego López; David López, Victor Sánchez, Diego Reyes, Aaron Caricol; Jose Antonio Reyes, Javi Fuego, Marc Roca, Pablo Piatti; Gerard Moreno, Leo Baptistao
BarcaLens Prediction: If Luis Enrique doesn't rest his key players, I think this will be much easier, Messi will be playing against one of his favourite goalkeepers, we'll win – Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol.
