Barcelona vs Espanyol

The 175th edition of Derbi Barceloní in La Liga pits table-topping Barcelona against relegation-threatened Espanyol at the Spotify Camp Nou.

Barcelona entered the World Cup break carrying a two-point lead over defending champions Real Madrid on the back of a five-match winning league streak. With marquee striker Robert Lewandowski suspended for the next three La Liga fixtures, Xavi Hernandez may have to turn to his resilient backline that’s kept 11 clean sheets in the opening 14 La Liga rounds, conceding a league-low five goals. Having won ten of their last 12 top-flight H2Hs at Camp Nou without conceding, Barcelona will fancy their chances of putting on another stubborn defensive display. By extension, the ‘Blaugrana’ have strung together a club-record 24 H2H matches without losing to Espanyol in La Liga (W18, D6), a feat Xavi is hellbent on extending after failing to reach the Champions League knockouts with Barcelona this season.

In the meantime, Espanyol’s hopes of avoiding another season-long dogfight against the drop took a series of punches ahead of a mid-season break as they were on a five-game winless La Liga run (D3, L2) before a seven-week hiatus from top-flight football. Pinned to 16th in the table, only one point clear of 18th-placed Sevilla, ‘Los Periquitos’ look like a doomed outfit, especially after mustering a club-low two wins from the opening 14 La Liga fixtures (D6, L6). A lack of scoring prowess remains a problem for manager Diego Martinez, with only five goals scored in their last six league outings suggesting they may lean on their sturdiness at the back. Having conceded only six times in that six-match sequence, Espanyol will hope to deny Barcelona another clear-cut win.