Barcelona will be looking to make it four La Liga victories in a row when they continue their 2020-21 campaign away to struggling Elche on Sunday afternoon.
The Catalan giants have won their last four in the league to move into third position in the table, but Elche have not been victorious since the end of October, which has seen them drop into the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Elche's recent form is concerning, with the promoted club failing to win in Spain's top flight since October 23 - a run of 12 matches without a victory which has left them in 18th position in the table.
Jorge Almiron's side have only actually lost six of their 17 league games this season, though, and the fact that they have two games in hand over the teams around them means that their position is slightly false.
Elche held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw at the end of December, but it has not been a successful January for the club, losing to Athletic Bilbao and Getafe before drawing 2-2 with Real Valladolid on Tuesday night.
Los Franjiverdes were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Rayo Vallecano on January 16, while their recent record against Barca is a concern, losing 6-0 and 3-0 in their last two clashes with the Catalan giants.
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Barca have certainly had their problems this season, but the 26-time Spanish champions are currently in strong form in La Liga, winning each of their last three, while they have not lost in Spain's top flight since the start of December.
A record of 10 wins, four draws and four defeats from 18 matches has seen Ronald Koeman's side collect 34 points, which has left them just three points behind second-placed Real Madrid on the same number of games.
Barca are 10 points behind leaders Atletico, though, and Diego Simeone's side also have a game in hand, showing the capital outfit's strength at the summit heading into the second half of the season.
All Koeman's team can do is keep winning and see where that takes them, and they will also enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 2-0 success over Cornella in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
Blaugrana were unable to lift the Spanish Super Cup last weekend, though, as they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the final of the competition, with Lionel Messi picking up a red card, which has made him unavailable for Sunday's contest at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.
Elche La Liga form: LDDLLD
Elche form (all competitions): DLWLLD
Barcelona La Liga form: DWDWWW
Barcelona form (all competitions): WWWWLW
Team News
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Ivan Marcone was suspended for Elche's 2-2 drawn with Valladolid on Tuesday night, but the midfielder is available for this weekend's contest and should return to the starting XI.
The home side still have a number of injury problems, though, with Luismi, Dani Calvo, Omenuke Mfulu, Guido Carrillo and Fidel all unavailable for selection against the Catalan giants.
There are not expected to be many surprises in Elche's XI, with Lucas Boye again set to lead the line, but Diego Gonzalez is pushing for a spot in the side, which could see Antonio Barragan switch to a wing-back role.
As for Barca, an appeal against Messi's two-game suspension has been dismissed, meaning that the Argentine, who was sent off against Athletic in the Spanish Super Cup, is banned for this match.
Sergino Dest is also a huge doubt with a thigh problem, while Philippe Coutinho, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto and Ansu Fati remain unavailable for selection this weekend.
Oscar Mingueza is set for another start at right-back, while Messi's absence could open the door for Martin Braithwaite to feature alongside Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele in the final third of the field.
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Verdu, Gonzalez, Josema; Barragan, Marcone, Guti, Mojica; Rigoni, Boye, Josan
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, De Jong; Griezmann, Pedri, Dembele; Braithwaite
We say: Elche 1-2 Barcelona
Elche are certainly capable of making it difficult for a Barca side that have struggled to show consistency this season. Messi's absence is a huge boost for the home team, but we are expecting the Catalan giants to collect all three points courtesy of a narrow success.
Top betting tip
Matt Law
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 85.87%. A draw had a probability of 10% and a win for Elche had a probability of 4.18%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 0-3 with a probability of 12.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (12.86%) and 0-4 (9.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (4.74%), while for a Elche win it was 1-0 (1.58%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Barcelona would win this match.
