La Liga Ledong Sports reports that Barcelona, the leader of the La Liga, will host their Catalan opponents Espanyol on Saturday, December 31 at 9 pm Beijing time. Barcelona seemed to have been eliminated from the Champions League group stage last season. Not surprisingly, when they went to visit as a guest in the first stage of this season, they were also overturned by their opponents Real Madrid . However, now this La Liga giant Barcelona has only lost two league points outside the Spanish derby, and leads Real Madrid in the standings by two points entering the World Cup. In contrast, and Spanish only won two games in the entire 22/23 season. A league-high six draws have kept Diego Martinez's side above the dreaded relegation line, but they are just one point ahead of relegated Sevilla and Cadiz.
Barcelona have amassed a total of 37 points in 14 games so far. In this local derby against Espanyol, they will hope to build on their lead at the top and continue their attack on the La Liga title. The away opponent is also from the city of Barcelona, which is currently ranked 16th in the league, with a total of only 12 points in 14 games so far. As of round 14, they had scored 16 goals in the league, but had conceded 22 for an overall goal difference of -6.
Barcelona vs Espanyol (in the past five games), Barcelona has 3 wins and 2 draws, and Espanyol has 2 draws and 3 losses.
Barcelona's predicted lineup against Espanyol
Barcelona starting 11 (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Robert, Kant, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Busquets, Garvey; Rafinha, Fati, Dembélé.
Substitutes: Pena, Araujo, Casey , Torres , Depay , De Jong, Garcia, Alba , Alonso .
Espanyol's predicted lineup against Barcelona
Spain starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Le Kent; Gil, S Gomez, Calero, Olivan ; Exposito, Sousa; Braithwaite , Dalde, Puado; Joselu.
Substitutes: Fernandez , Garcia, El Hilali, Vidal , Cabrera, Lazo, Melamed, Martinez, Villahermosa.
And Barcelona will lose their talisman Robert Lewandowski , because Lewandowski currently faces a three-game suspension due to the fact that in Barcelona's last game before the World Cup against Osasuna, the Barcelona striker had an argument with the referee, who reported the player for disrespectful behavior. Lewandowski will be unable to participate in at least 3 games, and the latest reports from Spain indicate that in Lewandowski's absence, it may be young Ansu Fati who finally replaces Barcelona's leading forward as the main No. 9 player.
