Espanyol vs Barcelona
Spain – LaLiga
Date: Saturday, 4 January 2019
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Espanyol vs Barcelona Preview
Here degradation Girona, this is no longer the only Catalan derby in La Liga and now looks very much as though we might not have this fixture next season. Espanyol are in deep trouble and they head into this game following the other managerial changes after taking over from the sacked Abelardo Pablo Machin over the Christmas period.
On the surface, it promises a fairly good from Espanyol board. Abelardo does a superb job at Alaves, and helped them fight back from a position of real danger to keep up in his first season in Vitoria. But this feels like a much larger jobs with the lowest Espanyol and with only 10 points on the board to date.
This is some baptism of fire for new boss with Espanyol after a miserable time against their illustrious city rivals over the last decade or more. Barcelona certainly will not be in the mood to show mercy to their neighbors fought and although inconclusive first round of this season, they are still at the top of the pile and well placed to retain their crown again under Ernesto Valverde.
The Catalan giants will be without goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and midfielders Arthur here but basically they are at full strength but that with Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Leo Messi set to form the next three again.
Quite how Espanyol will march more than a mystery given the change in coach but it seems unlikely that Abelardo would choose a more defensive approach than his predecessor who paid the price for failing to improve home record is terrible which now stands at just two points from nine league games at the Stadium RCDE this term ,
Predicted lineups
Espanyol: Diego Lopez, David Lopez, Espinosa, Calero, Roca, Gomez, Darder, Lozano, Villa, Campuzano Bonilla, Calleri
Barcelona: Neto, Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Vidal, Busquets, De Jong, Messi, Suarez, Griezmann
Espanyol vs Barcelona Predictions
Prediction score: 3-1 Barcelona
It will take more than a coaching switch to save Espanyol this season. They appear weak at both ends and while Abelardo has shown he can be a team organized and more importantly get a result, it is difficult to see them going through a radical transformation fast enough to allow them to compete with Barcelona in this match. The results of this Barcelona derby may be a familiar one.
Espanyol vs Barcelona Betting Tips
Barcelona to Win @ 1.50 (1/2)
Half Time / Full Time: Barcelona / Barcelona @ 2:20 (6/5).
