Next Saturday, 18th of October 2014, the league leaders, Barcelona, will entertain the newcomers, Eibar, at the mythical Camp Nou for round 8 of Liga BBVA, on a match during which the Blaugranas will try to maintain their place at the top of table, keeping Valencia and Sevilla at bay.

After easily smashing Granada by 6-0 at home, Barcelona were forced to put in some extra elbow grease to overcome Rayo Vallecano on the last round of La Liga. Luis Enrique’s boys’ two goals in two minutes’ time were enough to defeat a brave Rayo team, which, nevertheless, caused some problems to the Catalans after the break. The usual suspects, Messi and Neymar, were again vital to Barça’s strategy as they scored the team’s goals once again.

The Catalan team continues with an impressive record at La Liga, so far as they have not yet conceded any goals in seven matches and they will certainly try to extend that splendid deed when they met Eibar next Saturday.

Although the Blaugranas’ campaign at the UEFA Champions League has been far from brilliant so far, they have been enjoying an excellent moment on domestic competitions. Luis Enrique’s arrival at the helm of Barça was a tactical breath of fresh air into a team that struggled to find their own style last season. This new Barcelona team “hassles” their opponents while they are still passing the ball around in their own midfield, forcing them to produce several mistakes in the beginning of their game-building process.

For the home match against Eibar, Barça’s Asturian manager will probably still not be able to rely on the contribution of Vermaelen and Adriano, who are still recovering from their respective injuries, while Luis Suárez is still not a valid option due to suspension.

As for Eibar, the La Liga newcomers have been proving their point on their debut season at the Spanish football top tier and they have already conquered nine points during their first seven matches. Last round, the Basque team conceded a 3-3 home draw against Levante, thanks to a late goal by Piovaccari, on a match that proved to be extremely difficult to the home side.

Eibar have not been defeated on their last four matches and they will certainly be a tough bone for Barcelona to chew next Saturday.

Barcelona are firm favourites to win the Camp Nou’s match, however, they will need to be extra careful because they will face a team that rarely throws in the towel and that keeps fighting until the very last minute of every match.

Barcelona

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

Recent Form - WLWDW

Eibar

Stats: W-1 L-1 D-3

Recent Form - DDDWL

Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Bravo - Dani Alves - Mascherano - Mathieu - Jordi Alba - Busquets - Iniesta - Rakitic - Neymar - Pedro - Messi

Eibar (4-2-3-1) - Irureta - Bóveda - Albentosa - Navas - Abraham - Errasti - Garcia - Saul - Capa - Arruabarrena - Ángel

Prediction

Barcelona 2 Eibar 0