Barcelona’s title challenge will be put to the test on Saturday night, as they visit city rivals Espanyol for a Catalan derby clash.
Spanish champions Barcelona face a tricky trip to their neighbours on the back of a 7-1 home hammering of basement dwellers Osasuna in midweek. The win meant the Catalan giants stayed ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid courtesy of their superior head-to-head record.
Luis Enrique’s side have now picked up six wins from their last seven games in the Spanish top-flight. However, the champions have lost two of their last four away games in La Liga and rivals Espanyol have not always proven to be easy opponents for Barcelona.
The visitors are 12 games unbeaten at Espanyol in all competitions, though, and following big wins against Real Madrid and Osasuna, the Blaugrana will be highly confident of winning this fixture.
Barcelona have also kept clean sheets in their last four visits to the RCDE Stadium. Those clean sheets have helped contribute to this fixture seeing under 2.5 goals scored on the last seven occasions.
Espanyol are ninth-place in La Liga but have endured mixed fortunes of late in the Spanish top-flight. They have won two, drew one and lost two of their last five games in La Liga, so their form has been inconsistent.
The home side’s recent games in La Liga have been very low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in their last five outings in the Spanish top-flight. Quique Sanchez-Flores’ team have a creditable home record in La Liga of late, having suffered just two defeats in their last 14 games on home soil in the Spanish top-flight.
The visitors seem to be in very good form and the mood has changed around the Spanish champions in recent games. Forebet predicts that Barcelona will emerge from this clash with three valuable points and stay top of the table.