Barcelona – Espanyol

The Catalan derby is unlikely to be very tense and entertaining

On Saturday, 31 December, Barcelona take on Espanyol at home. The Catalans are objectively the best team in the Spanish championship. Xavi has built a model of play that allows them to produce a result in the vast majority of matches. In fourteen meetings, Barcelona have failed to win only twice. In the first round, they failed to beat Rayo Vallecano and also recorded a fair defeat against Real Madrid. Also on the downside is the Champions League exit. Another issue is that Barça took points by a wide margin in matches against average opponents and underdogs. If you look at the extended statistics, the league leader is first in almost every key indicator. The team is ahead of Real in goalscoring, up front and in defensive quality. Defence in general has been an unexpected trump card. The club set a record for the number of matches without conceding a goal. That said, the impact of the World Cup on Barcelona could be profound. Almost all the players were involved in the tournament. The Spaniards return disappointed. The world champions are not in the squad. There is also a big staffing loss unrelated to the tournament in Qatar. Robert Lewandowski will miss three matches at once due to insults to the referee. Espanyol, despite difficulties, continue to trust coach Diego Martinez. The promising specialist was largely unexpectedly appointed to a team that finished confidently last season. So far, the experiment is failing. Martinez has had a falling out with top forward De Thomas. Not only the performance has fallen, but also the overall quality of the game. "The Parrots have won only two games out of fourteen. The most recent success dates back to the clash with Valladolid in October. In terms of injuries, the situation is favorable. The club can count on its key players. Espanyol are entitled to complain about their lack of luck. According to advanced statistics, the Catalans are missing a lot of points because of poor goalscoring. The objective reason here is the absence of De Tomas. The bookmakers expect a goal carnival in the Catalan derby. A total of 3.5 is suggested as the base total. There are plenty of reasons to play it backwards. Espanyol have played their best matches in the second leg against opponents who had the ball. For example, they managed to beat Athletic away. Barcelona will not have Lewandowski, and the entire attack is focused on him. It's far from certain that Dembele is fit and ready. The home side will probably not mind even a minimum win, while Espanyol are unlikely to create many chances.