Barcelona will be seeking their eighth consecutive victory in all competitions when they face Catalan rivals Girona on Saturday afternoon in Spain’s top division.
Xavi’s squad is presently atop the La Liga standings, three points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, while Girona is 11th with 21 points from their first 18 matches.
Match preview
David Lopez, Reinier, and Ibrahima Kebe will miss another game for Girona due to injuries, while Santiago Bueno is suspended following his red card against Villarreal last time out.
Many parts of his team’s performance against the Yellow Submarine will have pleased head coach Michel, therefore the majority of those who started against the Yellow Submarine should return for this match.
However, Valentin Castellanos might potentially replace Cristhian Stuani at center forward, while Javi Hernandez is slated to replace Bueno in the middle of the defense.
As for Barcelona, Pedri is healthy despite being replaced late in the match against Real Sociedad.
Team News
The Catalan club has no first-team injuries at the moment, however Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres will miss this league match due to their remaining suspension games.
If Xavi decides to make substitutions, players like Marcos Alonso, Raphinha, Sergi Roberto, and Jordi Alba will be in contention for starting positions.
However, Lewandowski could be replaced by Ansu Fati in the center of the attack, the only alteration from the lineup that started against Real Sociedad.
Girona probable starting lineup: Gazzaniga; Martinez, Hernandez, Espinosa, Gutierrez; Romeu, A Garcia; Riquelme, Martin, Villa; Castellanos
Barcelona probable starting lineup: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Busquets, F de Jong; Dembele, Fati, Gavi
We say: Girona 1-2 Barcelona
We anticipate a close result as Girona is capable of making this a very difficult contest for Barcelona. In recent weeks, Michel’s squad has been difficult to defeat, but the visitors should be able to maneuver their way to a crucial three points on Saturday afternoon.
»Girona vs. Barcelona – prediction, team news, lineups«