Spain Round 36

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Espanyol vs Barcelona Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Espanyol:
Garcia; El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero; Exposito, Gonzalez, Lozano; Jofre, Puado, Roberto

Barcelona:
Szczesny; Garcia, Christensen, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres

Espanyol will welcome the leaders Barcelona to RCDE Stadium this Thursday. The hosts are still involved in the relegation battle, but their situation isn't critical. Espanyol have 39 points, five more than 18th-placed Leganes. With only three rounds to be played, I think Los Periquitos are safe. The last three opponents are Barcelona, Osasuna and Las Palmas, so few more points could be collect. But the current form is awful. They will enter the city derby with Barcelona on the back of a poor run of form, having taken just one point from their last four matches. What is worse, they are in series of three defeats in La Liga, losing the matches against Villarreal, Real Betis and Leganes. As a result, the players confidence is low and that's the biggest problem for coach Manolo Gonzalez. In addition, he has two injury issues. Defender Brian Olivan remain sidelined with a calf problem, while Pol Lozano is rated as doubtful. On the positive note, right-back Omar El Hilali is available after serving an one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Barcelona are inches away from the title in La Liga. The Blaugrana beat Real Madrid 4:3 during the weekend and almost secured the title. Kylian Mbappe shocked the leaders with his early brace, but Eric Garcia and Lamine Yamal equalized the result before Raphinha went on to score two goals of his own to give Barcelona a big 4:2 lead at the break. Real managed to reduce the result thanks to Mbappe, but that's all they did.
Barca have established seven-points advantage, with only three rounds remained. The mathematics is very simple - a victory here will guarantee the first place. Barcelona are in good form, having won 14 of their previous 15 La Liga matches. New coach Hansi Flick did a fantastic job, he already won two trophies, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Of course, the elimination from the Champions League was a painful experience for Flick. Nevertheless, the German coach enjoys a great season and the fans are satisfied. Flick has four players unavailable for the derby. Marc Bernal, Jules Kounde and Pablo Torre are injured, while Inigo Martinez is suspended.

Espanyol vs Barcelona Prediction:

Barcelona are clear favorites in this derby, though Espanyol are solid at the RCDE Stadium, where they have lost just once in their last 11 league games. But the H2H record against the Blaugrana is poor. Espanyol have not beat Barca in La Liga since recording a 2:1 away win in February 2009. Nevertheless, I think they are able to score. Barcelona are currently the best team in Spain, possibly in Europe. They are easily scoring, but at the same time they are easily conceding. Real Madrid scored three goals last Sunday, Celta Vigo also scored three, Inter Milan found the back of the net three times in Spain and three times in Italy etc. More important, Espanyol have player able to upset the leaders - Javi Puado have scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 32 La Liga appearances this season.

Espanyol vs Barcelona Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.76 with Pinnacle