Barcelona will be bidding to return to winning ways in La Liga on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Abanca-Balaidos to take on Celta Vigo.
The Catalan giants are currently down in ninth position in Spain's top flight, having picked up just 16 points from their opening 11 matches, while Celta sit 15th with 11 points to show from their first 12 games.
Match preview
© Reuters
Celta finished eighth in La Liga last term, and a push for a top-seven spot was thought to be a possibility this season due to the quality that the team can call upon, particularly in the final third of the field.
However, there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough start to the campaign for the Sky Blues, who have won three, drawn two and lost seven of their opening 12 matches to collect 11 points, which has left them in 15th position in the table ahead of the next set of fixtures.
Eduardo Coudet's side have only been victorious in one of their last five league matches - a 3-0 success at Getafe at the end of October - but they did pick up a welcome point away to high-flying Rayo Vallecano on Monday evening.
Celta also recorded a 2-1 victory over Barcelona when the two teams last locked horns at Camp Nou back in May, with Santi Mina scoring twice, including an 89th-minute winner.
Los Celestes were beaten 3-0 in the corresponding game last season, but the Catalan giants have only won once in Vigo since April 2015, and it would be fair to say that this is not a classic Barcelona team.
© Reuters
Barcelona remain under the interim management of Sergi Barjuan, as the club are finding it difficult to negotiate Xavi's release from Al-Sadd, with the Qatari outfit insisting that the Spaniard is not currently free to leave.
The Catalan outfit were held to a 1-1 draw by Alaves at Camp Nou last weekend, which has left them down in ninth position in the table, some nine points behind leaders Real Sociedad.
However, Barcelona did manage to pick up a huge three points in the Champions League on Tuesday night, as Ansu Fati's second-half effort proved to be the difference against Dynamo Kiev, and the result moved the La Liga side into second spot in Group E behind Bayern Munich.
It has been a very tough few months for the club, but all is not lost, with a spot in the knockout round of the European Cup more than achievable, while they are only six points off the top four in Spain's top flight.
Barcelona have only won one of their last five in the league, though, suffering three defeats in the process, including a 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano in their last away domestic fixture, which led to Ronald Koeman's exit.
- W
- L
- L
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Celta will be without the services of Brais Mendez on Saturday through suspension, so Nolito should return to the starting side, with Fran Beltran again operating as the number 10.
Mina is also out due to the hamstring problem that he suffered against Rayo, meaning that Augusto Solari could start alongside Iago Aspas in attack, although Thiago Galhardo will also be hoping to keep his spot.
There is also expected to be a change at right-back for the home side, with Hugo Mallo coming in for Kevin Vazquez, but Jeison Murillo should keep his spot in the middle of the defence.
Barcelona, meanwhile, confirmed on Thursday that Ousmane Dembele has suffered another injury, this time a hamstring problem, so the France international will be absent here.
Sergino Dest is also out with a back problem, joining Sergio Aguero, Martin Braithwaite, Pedri and Gerard Pique on the sidelines for the Catalan giants.
Sergi Roberto could return to bolster Barjuan's options, but Oscar Mingueza should continue at right-back, while Philippe Coutinho is an option to start in attack alongside Fati and Memphis Depay.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Dituro; Mallo, Murillo, N Araujo, Galan; Tapia; Suarez, Beltran, Nolito; Solari, Aspas
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Mingueza, R Araujo, Garcia, Alba; F de Jong, Busquets, Gavi; Coutinho, Memphis, Fati
We say: Celta Vigo 1-2 Barcelona
Celta have had their problems this season, but this is still a very tough assignment for Barcelona, who have lost two more important players through injury. It is difficult to back the Catalan outfit with any real confidence at the moment, but they should have just about enough to get over the line in Vigo.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barcelona win with a probability of 60.52%. A draw had a probability of 22% and a win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 17.52%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.9%) and 1-2 (9.88%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.44%), while for a Celta Vigo win it was 1-0 (5.52%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 0.9% likelihood.
