Espanyol vs Barcelona Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Dec 31, 2015 @ 03:22 am

Next Saturday, 2nd of January 2016, Espanyol will measure forces with their neighbours and rivals of Barcelona at Estadi Cornellà El-Prat for Round 18 of Liga BBVA.

A controversial penalty kick paved the way for Barcelona’s return to winning ways at La Liga. The Catalan team overcame Real Bétis at Camp Nou last Wednesday, but their overall performance, at the least during the first 30 minutes of the match, left something to desire.

According to the referee, Real Bétis’ goalkeeper Adan allegedly fouled Lionel Messi inside the box on minute 30’ of the first-half and he awarded a penalty kick to Barcelona. Neymar, however, failed to take the opportunity to open the score and hit the crossbar with his shot, but, in a desperate attempt to prevent Ivan Rakitic from scoring, Real Bétis defender Westermann directed the rebound into his own net.

The first goal changed the course of the match and opened way for Barcelona to claw their 12th win of the season. Two goals from the usual suspect Luis Suárez and another from Lionel Messi inflicted a heavy defeat to the visitors, who presented several complaints on the referee’s work. Real Bétis’ manager Pepe Mel, who was clearly devastated with the penalty kick decision, was sent-off by the referee and was forced to watch the rest of the match from the stands.

For next weekend’s important Catalunya derby against Espanyol, Luis Enrique will still not be able to rely on the contribution from Rafinha and Douglas, who remain sidelined due to long term injuries.

As for Espanyol, after two consecutive wins under Constantin Galca’s stewardship, the Periquitos failed to extend their positive moment in their visit to Andalusia last Wednesday and they were defeated by an extremely moralized Sevilla.

A colossal mistake by the Chilean defender Enzo Roco allowed Sevilla to open the score early in the match by Ciro Immobile, who replaced Kevin Gameiro in the starting XI. Before the break, after another mistake by Espanyol’s back line, Banega netted Sevilla’s second goal and sentenced the match for good.

Galca’s men improved in the second-half, as they managed to have more ball possession, thus forcing Sevilla to ease the attacking avalanche they had inflicted unto them in the first forty-five minutes.

After last Wednesday’s defeat, Espanyol are currently on the 13th place of La Liga’s table with 20 from 17 matches.

Espanyol

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - LWWLD

Barcelona

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - WWWDD

Possible Line-ups

Espanyol (4-2-3-1) - Pau - Lopez - Gonzalez - Roco - Duarte - Sánchez - Diop - Asensio - Sevilla - Perez - Caicedo

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Bravo - Alves - Pique - Mascherano - Jordi Alba - Busquets - Rakitic - Iniesta - Neymar - Suarez - Messi

Injury List / Suspended Players

Espanyol - Arbilla (in doubt)

Barcelona - Rafinha (inj) - Douglas (inj)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions