Barcelona vs Getafe

Injury-crippled Barcelona will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they take on out-of-sorts Getafe at Camp Nou this weekend.

Despite going unbeaten in their opening two La Liga matches (W1, D1), Barcelona already face the prospect of losing some ground at the top, having played out three draws in their last six league outings (W2, L1). With the starting centre-back duo, Eric Garcia and Gerard Pique, both ruled out with injuries, Barca’s hopes of landing their first top-flight clean sheet of the season are hanging in the balance. Despite outscoring Real Sociedad 4-2 in their seasonal opener at Camp Nou, the Catalans’ growing defensive issues have now seen them concede precisely twice in four of their last five home league games. It’s been 39 years since the ‘Blaugrana’ last let in 2+ goals in three home top-flight fixtures in a row, but they run that risk now.

Getafe’s visit to Camp Nou could be a prime opportunity for Ronald Koeman’s side to register a shutout, given a lack of scoring prowess in the traveling camp. The visitors have started their new La Liga campaign with a brace of 1-0 defeats to the likes of Valencia and Sevilla, meaning they’ve now failed to get on the scoresheet in six of their last seven La Liga matches, 2020/21 included. Low scoring has been a common theme in Getafe’s recent away league fixtures, with each of their last four top-flight trips seeing them draw a blank in games garnering under 1.5 total goals (D1, L3). They seem unlikely to get going here, though, considering they’ve never managed to beat Barcelona in an away La Liga meeting (D4, L12).