Mallorca vs Barcelona

Barcelona will hope for a fresh start when they take on the bottom-half Mallorca at the Visit Mallorca Estadi in their first La Liga game of 2022.

Mallorca headed into the Christmas break amid a rough patch, as a return of one win from their last ten La Liga matches (D6, L3) explains their underdog status in this fixture. A poor run of form left ‘Los Piratas’ five points clear of the drop zone, meaning a continuation of underwhelming performances could see them get sucked into a relegation fight. Mallorca have drawn eight (44.44%) of their 18 fixtures this La Liga campaign, their highest draw percentage at this stage of the season in the top-flight. Indeed, six of their last nine league games have ended level (W1, L2), the last two of which yielded an unpopular 0-0 scoreline. But a stalemate could be considered a success here, as Mallorca have lost their last seven La Liga meetings with Barcelona by an aggregate score of 28-4.

Meanwhile, Xavi’s hopes of getting Barcelona back on the rails have not gone according to plan, with the Catalans winning just once in five La Liga matches since the start of December (D2, L1). A staggering list of Covid-19 absentees and injured players threatens to make Barca’s life in early 2022 unsustainable and hinder their hopes of bridging a two-point gap on fourth-placed Rayo Vallecano. The ‘Blaugrana’ lament their worst win ratio after 18 La Liga matches since 2003/04, having won just seven times in Spain’s top-flight this season (D7, L4). So they’ll see this trip as a lifetime opportunity to launch a substantial winning streak and save a humiliating season, having won 11 of their last 12 La Liga visits to Mallorca, barring a 2-1 defeat in 2009.