Espanyol V Barcelona - Preview and possible lineups
We take a look ahead to Sunday's La Liga game between Espanyol and Barcelona at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat.
Espanyol: Winger Pablo Piatti and forward Sergio Garcia are both doubts due to a muscle problem and illness respectively, whilst midfielder Carlos Sanchez could make his debut after joining on loan from Fiorentina.
Barcelona: Ernesto Valverde has no fresh injury concerns ahead of this one, with only Thomas Vermaelen and Ousmane Dembele (both hamstring) sidelined. Andres Iniesta may be made to do with a place on the bench follwoing his recent exertions.
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde:
“They are a team who will put pressure on us and we have to be just as motivated. We have to start quickly and demonstrate we want to win the game from the start.
“After the last two games in such a short amount of time I don’t think there will be many surprises. They will play with enthusiasm, pressure and they will try and repeat their result in the first leg of the Copa.
“If you attack well, you defend well. If you don’t have opportunities to score then you open yourself up to having problems in defence. Our objective is to attack well. Then we need to be patient and not commit too many people.”
Form:
Possible lineups:
Espanyol: Lopez, Navarro, Duarte, Hermoso, Caricol, Sanchez, Lopez, Granero, Garcia, Baptistao, Moreno.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Paulinho, Coutinho, Suarez, Messi.