Barcelona moved to the brink of a 28th La Liga title with a thrilling 4-3 win over sworn enemies Real Madrid last weekend.
Victory at the expense of another rival would confirm the Blaugrana’s status as champions when they make the short trip across town to face Espanyol. If Madrid fail to beat Mallorca the day before, the party will already have started.
The win in El Clasico came at a cost, however, and head coach Hansi Flick is compromised by injuries and suspension in his defensive line.
Espanyol are not yet mathematically safe from relegation, but they could be with a positive result in this midweek round of fixtures. Manolo Gonzalez’s side are 14th, five points above the drop zone.
However, their survival would already be assured if they hadn’t gone down 3-2 to third-bottom Leganes last time out.
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Espanyol vs. Barcelona lineups, predicted starting 11, team news
Gonzalez boasts a largely clean bill of health, with late checks needed on defender Brian Olivan and midfielder Pol Lozano.
The Espanyol boss’ big decision comes in terms of team shape. The switch to a back five is likely to be ditched after Leganes raced into a 3-0 lead at the weekend.
Espanyol predicted lineup (4-2-3-1 right to left): J. Garcia (GK) — El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero — Lozano, Gonzalez — Carreras, Exposito, Fernandez, Puado —
Injured: Olivan (doubt), Lozano (doubt)
Suspended: None
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Inigo Martinez‘s yellow card against Real Madrid means he is suspended for the trip to Estadi Cornella-El Prat. Martinez’s regular centre-back partner Pau Cubarsi suffered a stomach injury in the match and faces a late fitness test.
Alejandro Balde was back in action from the bench in El Clasico after a month on the sidelines, although Gerard Martin‘s fine form in his absence at left-back means there is no need to rush the Spain international.
Jules Kounde remains sidelined, so Eric Garcia, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen could also start in the back four, with such wholesale changes in personnel a potential weakness given how well-drilled Flick needs his high defensive line to be.
At the other end of the field, Robert Lewandowski should be ready to return to the first XI in place of Ferran Torres.
Barcelona predicted lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Szczesny (GK) — Garcia, Araujo, Christensen, Balde — De Jong, Pedri — Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha — Torres
Injured: Curbasi (stomach, doubt) Kounde (foot), Bernal (ACL), Casado (knee), Torre (knee)
Suspended: Martinez
Espanyol vs. Barcelona live stream, TV channel
Here’s how to watch this La Liga match across selected areas of the world’s major regions:
