FC Barcelona will kick off the Barcelona Derby with complete confidence as they are on fine form after defeating Atletico Madrid. This will be the first time the team and fans will be entering a match with high spirits.
Barcelona will be looking to win three consecutive matches in La Liga as they head to RCDE Stadium to take on Catalan rivals.
The visitors are currently fourth in the table, just two points behind third-placed Real Betis with a game in hand, while Espanyol occupies the 13th, three points behind the 10th-placed Celta Vigo.
Team news:
RCD Espanyol
Espanyol are without a victory in the league since the end of December, though, picking up just one point from their last four matches against Elche, Cadiz, Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao.
Vicente Moreno’s side has won six, drawn two and lost three of their 11 league matches this season to collect 20 points, but they have lost their last two in front of their fans to Elche and Real Betis.
From 23 matches, they have seven wins, six draws and ten defeats.
Espanyol and Barcelona have played 173 La Liga matches. In that, Espanyol have only won 34 games. Barca defeated them in 101 games, including a 1-0 loss in the reverse match at Camp Nou back in November.
FC Barcelona
After Koeman was sacked in November, Xavi’s debut game as a manager for Barcelona was the Barcelona Derby at Camp Nou. His side earned a narrow 1-0 victory courtesy of a Memphis Depay penalty.
From his first 10 LaLiga Santander matches, Xavi’s record stands at six wins, three draws, and one defeat, picking up 21 points out of a possible 30.
Barcelona will not have the services of Dani Alves as he got the red card against Atletico Madrid. Alves has now been suspended for two games and will miss Barcelona’s La Liga fixtures against Espanyol and Valencia.
Last time, when these two teams met at RCDE Stadium, Espanyol earned a 2-2 draw against Barcelona to give a huge blow to their title race. They will be hoping to do the same when they meet again on Sunday.
Date and Time: Sunday 13th February 2022 at 20:00 (UK)
Venue: RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat
Last five meetings:
20/11/21 (LIGA) Barca 1 (Memphis) Espanyol 0
08/07/20 (LIGA) Barca 1 (L Suarez) Espanyol 0
04/01/20 (LIGA) Espanyol 2 Barça 2 (L Suarez, A Vidal)
30/03/19 (LIGA) Barca 2 (Messi 2) Espanyol 0
08/12/18 (LIGA) Espanyol 0 Barca 4 (Messi 2, Dembele, L Suarez)
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Diego Lopez; Vidal, Gomez, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Darder, Morlanes, Melendo; Puado, De Tomas, Vilhena
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Pique, Alba; F de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Traore, Torres, Gavi
