Barcelona Set To Avoid Shock Upset Against Granada

Barcelona will be looking to make it back-to-back La Liga wins when they travel to the Nuevo Estadio
de Los Carmenes to face Granada on Saturday night.

The Spanish champions recorded a 5-2 victory over Valencia on home soil last weekend, but an average
start to the 2019-20 campaign has left them in fifth place – only ahead of sixth-placed Granada on goal
difference.

The return of Lionel Messi who played in the team’s 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA
Champions League is expected to spark life into the team as they seek for another three points.

Barca’s Jordi Alba will miss out with the hamstring problem that he suffered against Dortmund, while
fellow defender Samuel Umtiti is on the sidelines until the end of next month with a foot injury.

On the other hand, Granada will be without the services of Alex Martinez, Yann Eteki, Neyder Lozano
and Fede Vico, but the home side are hopeful that full-back Quini will overcome a knock to start.

Head To Head

As mentioned, Barca have won each of the last six league meetings between the two teams, but Granada
did record a 1-0 victory on home soil during the 2013-14 campaign.

Barca’s last visit to Granada in the league ended in a 4-1 victory, while they have also won 3-0 and
3-1 in their recent visits to the Andalusian club, which is an indication of the task facing the
hosts this weekend.

Possible Line ups

Granada: Silva; Diaz, Duarte, Sanchez, Quini; Herrera, Montoro; Puertas, Vico, Machis; Soldado

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Firpo; De Jong, Busquets, Roberto; Messi, L Suarez,
Griezmann