Barcelona return to La Liga action with the Catalan derby as they host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday.
The task for Barcelona in the second half of the season will be to strengthen their lead at the top of the standings after going two points clear of rivals Real Madrid. Having played second fiddle for much of the campaign, they leapfrogged the champions after going on a run of five straight La Liga wins just before the international break.
Barcelona head into Saturday’s clash off the back of a 2-1 victory at Osasuna in their previous La Liga fixture. Despite playing much of the second half with nine men, they fought back from a goal down to win thanks to goals from Pedri and Raphinha.
While Barcelona will be without top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who is suspended following a red card last time out, they will still be confident of coming out on top. Xavi’s men are unbeaten at home this season and are also yet to concede a goal in front of their fans.
Espanyol are once again having a contrasting campaign from Barcelona as they are battling at the opposite end of the table. Sitting just one point above the bottom three, they are definitely in a relegation scrap at the moment.
It has generally been a rough La Liga campaign for Espanyol, who have claimed just three wins in 14 La Liga matches so far. Things got particularly worse just before the international break as they went on a five-match winless run, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Villarreal in their previous La Liga fixture.
Although they claimed a 1-0 Copa Del Rey victory at Atletico Paso last week, Espanyol have endured a rough time on their travels in La Liga this season. They have won just once on the road so far but played out a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid in their previous fixture on the road.
How the bookies view it
Barcelona are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 5/19 by SBK. An unlikely victory for Espanyol is valued at 11/1 by William Hill while a draw is set at odds of 5/1 by BetVictor.
Head to head
Barcelona have a 44-7 advantage with 16 draws from 67 previous matches with Espanyol. Barcelona are also unbeaten in the last five meetings and have also won the last three fixtures at Camp Nou, keeping clean sheets in all three victories.
Players to watch
Barcelona’s campaign has surprisingly been driven by a solid defence that is yet to concede a single goal at home this season. Jules Kounde could partner Andreas Christensen at centre-back and both men could lead the hosts to another clean sheet at 21/20 by BoyleSports.
At the other end of the pitch, Osman Dembele could be the one to watch for Barcelona in the absence of Lewandowski. The forward had scored in his last two home matches and is priced at 12/5 by Unibet to find the net on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given Barcelona’s solid defensive record at Nou Camp, BTTS NO could be on the cards at 11/10 with Paddy Power. The La Liga leaders have won to nil in their last six home matches and could be set for a repeat at 13/10 with Paddy Power.
Barcelona’s home wins this season have been mostly one-sided which means they could be backed in the -1 handicap market at 8/11 with Paddy Power.
This La Liga match between Barcelona and Espanyol will be played on Dec 31, 2022 and kick off at 13:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Espanyol prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
