After their disappointing exit from the Champions League, Barcelona will turn their attention to the Spanish La Liga when they travel to Estadio de Mestalla to face struggling Valencia.
Venue: Estadio de Mestalla (Valencia)
Key Statistics
Valencia have kept just two clean sheets in the league this season.
The hosts have scored 66% of their league goals this season at home.
They have scored 2+ goals in four of their last six games.
Barcelona have kept five clean sheets in their last six league games.
They have lost three of their last four away games.
They have also failed to score in three of their last four away games.
Barcelona have the best defence in the league this season having conceded just four goals. They also have the joint-best attack in the league having scored 28 goals–level with Real Madrid.
Head to head
In the last 15 meetings between both sides, Barcelona have nine wins while Valencia have managed just two wins.
Latest performances in all competitions
Valencia: L-D-D-W-D
Barcelona: L-W-W-L-D
Valencia
Valencia will welcome Barcelona to the Estadio De Mestalla looking for their first win in the fourth attempt.
Los Che have endured a poor start to the season amid their financial crisis, and have picked up four wins, three draws and four defeats to sit in ninth place in the La Liga table.
They extended their run of matches without a win last weekend when they succumbed to a 1-2 loss to Mallorca. Despite taking the lead in the second half through an Edinson Cavani penalty, Gennaro Gattuso’s boys lost focus and conceded a 66th-minute penalty which Vedat Muriqi made no mistake converting. Lee-In-Kang scored late on, to hand the visiting side all three points and condemn Gattuso’s side to their third game without a win.
The hosts have the joint worst defensive record among the teams in the top ten in the La Liga tables, having conceded 13 times over the course of the season. Given that record, coming up against La Liga’s joint-best offensive team, the odds weigh heavily against Los Che, who will be searching for a first win over the Blaugrana since their 2-0 win in January 2020.
Possible Valencia starting line-up
Giorgi Mamardashvili; Thierry Correia, Gabriel Paulista, Eray Comart, Jose Gaya; Yunus Musah, Andre Almeida, Nico Gonzalaz; Justin Kluivert, Edinson Cavani, Samuel Lino.
Injured: Samuel Castillejo, Jaume Domenech
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Barcelona
Barcelona will be out to banish the pains of an early exit from the Champions League when they visit the Mestalla.
The Blaugrana come into this game, reeling from a demoralising 0-3 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last Wednesday. Goals from Sadio Mane, Choupo-Moting and Benjamin Pavard ensured that the Bavarians continued their dominance over the Spanish giants in this fixture.
Xavi Hernandez will now be happy to see his men shrug off their defeat and not lose focus on the league, by picking up maximum points against Valencia.
Despite their woes on the International stage, Barcelona have been in fine form in La Liga, and come into this game off the back of an impressive 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao last weekend.
Ousmane Dembele ran the show against Ernesto Valverde’s side, and set up goals for Robert Lewandowski, Sergi Roberto and Ferran Torres, with the Frenchman getting a goal for himself too to cap off a fine performance against the Basque side.
Barcelona have now scored seven goals in their last two matches in La Liga, and with such devastating attacking impetus, Xavi Hernandez will fancy his team’s chances of getting an easy win over Los Che as they look to keep pace with Real Madrid at the top of the table.
Possible Barcelona starting line-up
Marc Ter Stegen; Hector Bellerin, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia, Alex Balde; Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong; Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele.
Injured: Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Memphis Depay, Sergi Roberto
Doubtful: Franck Kessie
Suspended None
Prediction
Valencia 1-3 Barcelona
