Barcelona hope prolong their lead on the high of La Liga on Sunday afternoon after they host Catalan rivals Espanyol within the Derbi Barceloni.
La Blaugrana prolonged their benefit on the summit in fashion final weekend, hammering Actual Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico on the Santiago Bernabeu.
4 unanswered second-half strikes secured a memorable victory and fired Barcelona six factors forward of the reigning champions. That margin will likely be prolonged to 9 this weekend if Hansi Flick’s aspect beat Espanyol following the postponement of Madrid’s conflict with Valencia.
Barca have dominated this explicit derby over current years, with Espanyol having did not win this fixture since January 2018. Having spent final time period within the second division, Espanyol are assembly their native rivals for the primary time since a 4-2 defeat in Might 2023 – a fixture which secured the 2022/23 La Liga title for Xavi’s Barca.
Espanyol have made a largely underwhelming begin to their La Liga return, with simply ten factors collected from their opening 11 matches. They’ve tasted 5 defeats of their final six league outings however did earn some respite midweek after beating San Tirso 4-0 within the Copa del Rey.
Right here is 90min’s information to an all-Barcelona affair.
Barcelona vs Espanyol H2H File (Final 5 Video games)
Present type (all competitions)
|
Barcelona |
Espanyol |
|---|---|
|
Actual Madrid 0-4 Barcelona – 26/10/24 |
San Tirso 0-4 Espanyol – 31/10/24 |
|
Barcelona 4-1 Bayern Munich – 23/10/24 |
Espanyol 0-2 Sevilla – 25/10/24 |
|
Barcelona 5-1 Sevilla – 20/10/24 |
Athletic Membership 4-1 Espanyol – 19/10/24 |
|
Alaves 0-3 Barcelona – 06/10/24 |
Espanyol 2-1 Mallorca – 05/10/24 |
|
Barcelona 5-0 Younger Boys – 01/10/24 |
Actual Betis 1-0 Espanyol – 29/09/24 |
|
Nation |
TV channel/reside stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Premier Sports activities 2, Premier Sports activities Participant, LaLigaTV |
|
United States |
fuboTV, ESPN+, ESPN App, ESPN Deportes |
|
Canada |
TSN+ |
Barcelona proceed to battle a prolonged record of absentees and Flick continues to be with out Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, Marc Bernal and Ferran Torres. Eric Garcia can be a doubt for the weekend’s match-up.
Nonetheless, they’ve been buoyed by the return of some key midfielders in current weeks, with Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Dani Olmo all making their comebacks.
De Jong has been eased again into the crew however may make his first begin since April towards Espanyol. Olmo may additionally substitute Fermin Lopez within the quantity ten spot.
Barca’s ahead line has been purring in current weeks with 21 objectives scored throughout their final 5 matches. Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski have been in significantly sturdy goalscoring type with 15 of these objectives coming from the duo.
Barcelona predicted lineup vs Espanyol (4-2-3-1): Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
Espanyol are with out a lot of gamers for his or her journey throughout Barcelona, with Fernando Calero lacking in defence and Pol Lozano and Jose Gragera anticipated to overlook out within the centre of the park.
Espanyol have points on the left flank with Edu Exposito out of motion and Naci Unuvar a doubt after experiencing discomfort within the midweek Copa del Rey victory.
Tottenham Hotspur loanee Alejo Veliz scored a hat-trick midweek and can now be eager to take his goalscoring type into La Liga.
Espanyol predicted lineup vs Barcelona (5-3-2): Garcia; Tejero, El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero; Carreras, Kral, Aguardo; Veliz, Puado.
Barcelona will likely be extraordinarily sturdy favourites to not solely beat Espanyol on Sunday however to run up the rating. They’ve bagged three or extra in eight totally different fixtures this season and boast an array of attacking skills in distinctive type.
In the meantime, Espanyol have one of many leakiest defences within the division with 19 objectives conceded in 11 matches, whereas they’ve additionally managed simply ten objectives themselves. Barca’s powers are simply too sturdy proper now and Sunday’s derby might be as one-sided as they arrive.
Prediction: Barcelona 4-0 Espanyol
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