Barcelona vs Espanyol

The first ‘Derbi Barceloni’ of the season pits underperforming La Liga heavyweights Barcelona against promoted Espanyol at Camp Nou.

Club playing legend Xavi Hernandez returns to Camp Nou as a manager, hopeful of shaping a new winning era at his beloved Barcelona. Xavi’s first task will be to halt Barca’s underwhelming four-match winless streak in La Liga (D2, L2) and help them snap a run of six straight league outings without a clean sheet. Espanyol look like a welcome opposition, with the ‘Blaugrana’ going unbeaten in their last 22 La Liga clashes against city rivals (W17, D5). What’s more, Barcelona have beaten Espanyol in 11 top-flight home encounters on the trot after winning just once in their four such H2Hs beforehand (D3, L1). Barring a 2-1 defeat to arch-rivals Real Madrid in late October, the hosts have avoided defeat in their remaining six La Liga home games this term (W4, D2).

In the meantime, Espanyol will hardly roll over and concede defeat, especially after beating Real Madrid in October. But replicating that feat here would require the newly-promoted visitors to post their first away win in La Liga this season (D3, L3). Having conceded precisely twice in their last four top-flight travels, Espanyol know they need to shore up their defensive holes if they are to stand a chance at Camp Nou. Yet, they have racked up three victories across their last six La Liga outings (D2, L1), as many triumphs as they had in their 25 matches in the competition beforehand (W3, D8, L14). Interestingly, the ‘Periquitos’ have drawn 38 La Liga games against Barcelona (W34, L100), more than against any other side in the competition’s history.