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FC Barcelona vs. RCD Espanyol Barcelona
The “Derbi Barceloni” awaits us in the Spanish La Liga late on Saturday evening, and it is particularly interesting this time as it will be the must-win fixture for FC Barcelona under new coach Xavi. Recently, Barca has looked extremely ponderous and the magic of the past years seemed to have faded completely. With the departure of Lionel Messi, the club has lost its figurehead and best player of recent years. Now a Barca legend has returned and is expected to lead the club back to success. The derby opener can be both an opportunity and a risk.
Espanyol have stabilised extremely well and have already beaten Real Madrid, among others. But the Blaugrana’s record in recent years has been extremely positive and their last defeat came 12 years ago in the league. Find out if we think they will continue this winning streak in this Barcelona – Espanyol tip.
Barcelona – Espanyol Infos
– Date & Time: 20.11.2021, 21:00 Uhr
– Venue: Camp Nou (Barcelona)
– Competition: La Liga, Matchday 14
TV broadcast: In Livestream at DAZN
Barcelona Form & Balance Check
Barcelona are currently trying everything to save the season and at least participate in the Champions League. With Xavi Hernandez, a new coach was signed and with Dani Alves, a player with a lot of experience was brought back. Despite prominent departures, the squad is of course still strong, but it seems as if the key players of the past days are becoming increasingly inconsistent. Pique often allows himself unnecessary mistakes, the midfield lacks dominance and offensively the last danger. The most promising offensive player with Ansu Fati is unfortunately still missing too often due to injuries.
Is the change of coach paying off?
In the run-up, there is of course a lot of talk about the new coach and his methods. Apparently it’s a lot about discipline, not only on the field but also off the field. The focus is to be more on football again and the players will have to invest much more than before. The tactics will certainly be similar to the good old days at Barca, it will be interesting to see whether the players are able to implement this plan.
Barcelona facts & analysis
– Winless in the league for 4 league games now.
– They currently occupy 9th place in the table
– They squandered a 3-0 lead against Celta Vigo
Espanyol form & balance check
After being relegated bottom of the table in 2020, and after 26 years of La Liga affiliation, Espanyol Barcelona have gone straight back up this year. At the beginning, they struggled a lot and it seemed as if they would once again fight solely against relegation. But then they were able to stabilise amazingly well and meanwhile they have arrived in the midfield of the table and showed by the victory over Real Madrid that they can also compete with the big ones of the league.
Where are Espanyol heading this year?
The relegation 2 years ago hurt extremely, of course, but the main thing is to re-establish themselves in the league. A few years ago they qualified for the Europa League and in their relegation season they even made it through the group stages in the Europa League, later failing to beat Wolverhampton. Generally Espanyol have rarely been a team that has been in at the bottom and the aim will be to build on their commanding times.
Espanyol facts & analysis
– They have yet to win a single game away from home this season.
– They concede an average of one goal per game
– de Tomas is the top scorer with 7 goals
Predicted line-up – last update on 18 November 2021
The hosts continue to have extreme personnel problems and especially offensively the coach has hardly any options. Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele and Kun Agüero are all out injured. It is quite possible that Xavi will bring in the young Demir for this reason. Defensively, Pique might be back and start in the defensive centre next to Lenglet. For the visitors, we expect the same line-up as in the 2-0 win over Granada.
Barcelona – Espanyol direct comparison & Statistics
This La Liga clash has been played 172 times and the direct comparison goes pretty clearly to the home side. They have won 100 times over Espanyol, while the visitors have only managed this feat 34 times. That’s another reason why Barca are favourites this weekend.
– Barca won the last match with 1:0
– Espanyol have only won four times at the Camp Nou in the last 67 years.
– Barca have scored in every home game so far
