Barcelona will be bidding to move to within five points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when they resume their campaign at home to Las Palmas on Saturday night.
The Catalan giants are currently second in the La Liga table, eight points off the summit, while Las Palmas occupy 11th position, picking up 37 points from 29 games during a successful campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Barcelona entered the international break off the back of one of their best performances and indeed results of the 2023-24 campaign, recording a 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at Wanda Metropolitano.
The success made it 10 games unbeaten in all competitions for the Catalan outfit, who have not lost since Xavi announced at the end of January that he would be standing down as manager this summer.
Barcelona remain hopeful that Xavi can be convinced to stay as head coach beyond the end of the campaign, and the club are still challenging for two trophies this season, sitting eight points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid in the table, while they will take on Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The reigning La Liga champions have won six and drawn two of their last eight league matches, and they will be confident of posting another victory ahead of a trip to Paris for the first leg of their last-eight affair in the European Cup on April 10.
Barcelona have picked up 34 points from their 15 league matches at their temporary home - Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys - this season, but all three of their losses in Spain's top flight in 2023-24 have come in front of their own supporters, while they have also conceded 19 times in their 'home' La Liga fixtures.
© Reuters
Having secured a return to La Liga as the 2022-23 Segunda Division runners-up, consolidating back at this level was always going to be Las Palmas' number one priority this season.
Los Amarillos have performed above expectations, though, boasting a record of 10 wins, seven draws and 12 defeats from 29 matches to collect 37 points, which has left them in 11th spot in the table.
Garcia Pimienta's side have no relegation fears, sitting 15 points clear of the bottom three, and they are only five points off seventh-placed Real Betis, so it could be a famous campaign for the club.
Indeed, Las Palmas have not finished higher than 11th in Spain's top flight since claiming sixth in 1978-79, but their recent form has been disappointing, picking up just two points from their last five matches, including back-to-back home losses to Athletic Bilbao and Almeria ahead of the international break.
Pio Pio suffered a 3-0 defeat to Barcelona at Camp Nou last season, while they lost 2-1 to the reigning champions when the two teams locked horns for the reverse match in January.
Team News
© Reuters
Barcelona will again definitely be missing Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Gavi and Alejandro Balde for this weekend's contest, while there are question marks over Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo, but Ferran Torres could make a timely return to the squad.
Christensen pulled out of the Denmark squad due to an Achilles problem, while Araujo was released by Uruguay earlier than expected over the international break, and it is believed that a minor muscular problem could see the centre-back rested on Saturday night.
Robert Lewandowski is expected to be fit despite concerns over a knock which he picked up while representing Poland, and Xavi is set to name a strong side due to the break between this match and the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final with PSG.
Joao Cancelo missed out against Atletico before the international break due to concerns over a potential heart problem, but tests allowed the defender to be given the all-clear, and he is set to come back into the side here, having featured for Portugal against Slovenia earlier this week.
As for Las Palmas, Saul Coco is available again after a one-match suspension, and he is set to return to the middle of the defence this weekend.
Daley Sinkgraven and Cristian Herrera remain on the sidelines through injury, though, and Julian Araujo will also miss out against his parent club due to a hamstring problem.
Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez are set to line up against their former club on Saturday, while Alex Suarez is expected to move across to right-back to allow Coco to come back into the defence.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, I Martinez, Cubarsi, Cancelo; Fermin, Gundogan, Roberto; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix
Las Palmas possible starting lineup:
Valles; A Suarez, Coco, Marmol, S Cardona; El Haddadi, Munoz, Perrone, K Rodriguez, Moleiro; Sandro
We say: Barcelona 2-0 Las Palmas
Las Palmas deserve a lot of credit for what has been an impressive campaign back at this level, but Barcelona are on a roll at the moment, and we are expecting Xavi's side to post their 20th La Liga victory of the campaign to move to within five points of the leaders Real Madrid.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
