Espanyol vs Barcelona – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction

Xavi Hernandez at presentation of Santander Bank in Barcelona, Catalonia - IMAGO / Agencia EFE

Barcelona will look to continue their ascent up the La Liga table when they travel to RCDE Stadium this Sunday to play Catalan side Espanyol in ‘Derbi Barceloní’.

Venue: RCDE Stadium (Cornella de Llobregat)

Key Statistics

This fixture is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga (173 meetings).

Espanyol have lost their last two home games, conceding six times in those two games.

The hosts have scored in each of their last ten home games.

They have not defeated Barca at home in their last 13 league games.

Barcelona are unbeaten in their last seven league games (W4, D3).

They have three wins across their last 11 LL away matches (W3, D6, L2).

The visitors have kept just two clean sheets in their last 14 games in all competitions.

Head to head

Espanyol have often been on the wrong side of the result in this tie, losing 101 of the previous 173 top-flight meetings between both sides.

Latest performances in all competitions

Espanyol: L-L-D-L-L

Barcelona: W-W-L-L-D

Espanyol

Espanyol play host to Barcelona in the derby de Catalonia in the RCDE Stadium on Sunday night.

After securing a top-flight return to La Liga by winning the Segunda Division, remaining in the top tier league was bound to be Espanyol’s main objective of this season. And so far, they have done about enough to make sure that objective remains in view and achievable.

But their recent record in the league suggests that they are not completely safe yet and that things could go very wrong.

The hosts come into this tie on the back of a 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao. The loss means that they are without a win in the league since the end of December, picking up just one point from their last four matches against Elche, Cadiz, Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao.

Vicento Moreno’s side have a record of six draws, seven wins and ten defeats in 23 matches this season. With 27 points to their name, they are currently sitting 13th on the table, three points off the top ten and crucially nine points off the relegation zone, heading into the final months of the season.

Although they are in no immediate danger of relegation, they will be desperate to end their poor run of form to avoid getting stuck in a relegation fight at the business end of the season.

Possible Espanyol starting line-up

Diego Lopez; Vidal, Sergi, Gomez, Leandro Cabrera, Adria Pedrosa; Sergi Darder, Manu Morlanes, Oscar Melendo; Javi Puado, Adrian Embarba, Tonny Vilhena.

Injured: Keidi Bare, Fernando Calero, Raul de Tomas

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Barcelona

Barca face city rivals Espanyol in a game that will test the recent improvement by Xavi Hernandez’s team.

The visitors recorded a 1-0 win over Alaves on January 23 before beating Atletico Madrid 4-2 last weekend, with Adama Traore making his second debut for the club and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang making his first outing since arriving from Arsenal ahead of the transfer deadline.

Xavi’s side scored all four of their goals against Atletico in the opening 49 minutes, and the result moved them above the reigning champions into the fourth spot in the table. They are now just two points behind third-placed Real Betis with a game in hand.

The Catalan giants are not in a title race this season, as they are currently sitting 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid. But they are in a strong position to secure a top-four finish and will also be aiming for success in the Europa League.

However, Barcelona have not lost to Espanyol in La Liga since February 2009. They have found it difficult to secure away-wins this season, and picked up maximum points on just three occasions. La Liga giants collected only 15 points from 11 away fixtures.

With the confidence they would have secured by winning Atletico Madrid last week, they will be confident of getting maximum points in this game.