Laliga : Barcelona Vs Espanyol Match Preview, Line Up, Live Info

Barcelona Vs Espanyol
SCHEDULE	TIME
MATCH :	Barcelona V/s. Espanyol (Laliga)
DATE:	5-01-2019
TIME :	1.30 AM IST (UTC +5:30)
STADIUM:	Cornella El Prat Stadium

Full Time
BARCELONA [2] - [2] ESPANYOL
Man Of The Match - Luis Suarez
Lineup	Barcelona
Barcelona XI: Neto; Roberto, Lenglet, Piqué, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, de Jong; Messi, Suárez, Griezmann.
Lineup	Espanyol
Espanyol XI: D. López; J. López, Espinosa, Naldo, Vilà; Gómez, Roca, D. López, Darder; Melendo, Calleri.

Match Preview

Barcelona kick off the New Year with the derbi barceloní against city rivals Espanyol on Saturday evening as the Blaugrana look to extend their lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Prior to the winter break, Ernesto Valverde's side enjoyed an emphatic 4-1 victory over Deportivo Alavés with Barça's prolific front three all getting their names on the scoresheet. Despite sitting top of the table with 39 points from 18 games, Barcelona's three defeats so far this season have all come on the road, so they will be hoping to start the New Year with a vital away win.

Espanyol, on the other hand, have endured a dismal season thus far as los Blanquiazules sit rock bottom of the league with a meagre ten points from their opening 18 games. Without a league win since a 1-0 victory over Levante in October, Espanyol will be praying for a miracle when they take on the reigning champions on Saturday as new head coach Abelardo Fernández takes charge of his first game..

Team News And Statistics

BARCELONA

Barcelona will have to make do without a host of personnel ahead of their La Liga clash with Espanyol on Saturday. Ousmane Dembélé continues to recover from a thigh injury sustained against Borussia Dortmund last month, while Arthur (groin) and Marc-André ter Stegen (knee) also remain sidelined. Ansu Fati (knee) is a minor doubt but may feature from the substitutes bench if need be.

Predicted XI: Neto; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, De Jong, Rakitic; Messi, Suarez, Griezmann

ESPANYOL

Espanyol will be without a few players themselves ahead of Saturday's clash as Sébastien Corchia (knee) remains sidelined until April at the very least. Matías Vargas sustained a sprained ankle which kept him out of action throughout December and will remain sidelined, while Victor Sánchez (knee) is also out.

Esteban Granero picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out against Leganes and will therefore miss the game. Naldo and Fernando Calero have amassed four yellow cards each and risk suspension if they are booked on Saturday.

Predicted XI: Diego Lopez; Javi Lopez, Espinosa, Calero, Vila; Darder, David Lopez, Roca, Vargas; Wu Lei, Calleri.

Sports Track Score Prediction

BARCELONA [3] - [1] ESPANYOL

Recent H2H Matches
BARCELONA	ESPANYOL
PLAYED : 56 WON : 34 LOSS : 5 DRAW : 16	PLAYED : 56 WON : 5 LOSS : 34 DRAW : 16