Barcelona and Valencia go head-to-head at the 6,000 capacity Estadio Johan Cruyff on Sunday as Hansi Flick’s side look to bounce back from a disappointing draw against Rayo Vallecano. Carlos Corberán’s men will be hoping to climb into the European places.
By Matt Smith
Barcelona got the better of Valencia on three occasions last season, beating them twice in the league and once in the Copa del Rey, including a 7-1 drubbing in LaLiga back in January. Barcelona also won big in the cup, and 2-1 away from home in the league.
Team news
Barcelona will be without a host of players heading into this game, with Lamine Yamal, Marc-André ter Stegen, Gavi, Alejandro Balde, and Frenkie de Jong all out injured. Flick has a lack of options in the middle of the park, so we could see Marc Casadó alongside Pedri.
Corberán should have an injury-free side for this game, barring any last-minute problems.
Barcelona need to tighten up at the back
Barcelona have so far conceded an average of one goal a game this season, but they’ve perhaps been quite fortunate not to have conceded more. Flick’s side have given up 4.2 expected goals in LaLiga, and they conceded a host of chances against Rayo last time out.
Going forward, Barcelona have looked fairly threatening, as expected, but Flick won’t be fully satisfied with how they’ve started the campaign. Against Rayo, they created just 1.83 expected goals, with a large portion of that coming from Lamine Yamal’s penalty. With the Champions League returning next week, they’ll have plenty more distractions to deal with, starting with a game against Newcastle United.
Valencia defensively resolute so far
Only Real Madrid have conceded fewer goals than Valencia so far in LaLiga this season. Corberán’s side have conceded just twice, while scoring on average 1.3 goals per match.
Valencia will need to show more in the final third and have struggled to test the opposition goalkeeper at times. Coberán’s men have managed just 2.3 shots on target, with no side in the league managing fewer this season.
Rashford or Raphinha to step up?
With Yamal ruled out of this one following injury while on Spain duty during the international break, it may be time for Raphinha, last season’s other main source of goal contributions to continue his positive start to the season. The Brazilian was, however, involved in a 1-0 defeat played at high altitude away in Bolivia in the early hours of Wednesday morning, so any involvement against Valencia may come from the bench.
Could Marcus Rashford be in line for a return to the starting XI? The Englishman was on target in the Three Lions’ big win against Serbia but has failed to find the net in three league appearances for Barca, although he has only played 94 minutes so far.
Prediction
It’s always difficult to predict against a Barcelona win, whoever they are playing, and this should be a victory for Flick’s side in this game. We’re going for a comfortable 3-1 home win at what is essentially Barca’s training complex.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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