Barcelona (1.30) travel to city rivals Espanyol (9.00) on Saturday evening and it may be somewhat surprising that Barca coach Pep Guardiola has chosen to classify this match with such importance considering the opposition are 13 places lower in La Liga and 46 points separate them.

Barcelona have been unstoppable in recent seasons with Europe’s biggest and best teams failing to stop them so a lowly Espanyol outfit look pretty unlikely to be able to halt Barcelona’s charge for the Primera Division.

However this is a city derby and it is well known that the form book goes out of the window in the blood and thunder of a local derby. Espanyol can take some confidence from recent matches against Barca to give them hope of an upset their last four encounters at home with Barcelona read W1 D2 L1.

Head-to-head

• Barca have only managed to win three while losing two and drawing the other four.
• Espanyol were the only team to win at the Nou Camp in La Liga last season when Barcelona were still hunting the title.

You can bet on now Barcelona (1.30)v  Espanyol (9.00) now

On the team news front, the home side will be without their number one keeper Carlos Kameni as he serves a ban after being sent off in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to Racing Santander.

Barcelona will be without Eric Abidal and Andres Iniesta but Zlatan Ibrahimovic is expected to be on the bench. The news has been full of plaudits for Lionel Messi in the last few weeks after a string of stellar performances and goals, but it is now midfielder Xavi who is putting in the world class performances too and he is 9.00 to get the first goal in this match.

Guardiola will not allow his troops to slip up in this potential banana skin game and the quality of Messi et al will ensure another Barcelona victory. Back a 3-1 win for Barcelona which is available at 11.00 with PartyBets.com.

Related posts:

1. La Liga Predictions: Expect More From Magical Messi
2. La Liga Review: Madrid Maintain Pressure on Barcelona
3. Nine-Man Barcelona Win Again as Madrid Keep Pace

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