In less than 20 days this will be the third city derby between Espanyol and Barcelona, as they met in the quarterfinals of the Cup and then both teams made one win, but Barcelona was more persuasive and went to the semi-finals. After winning over Barcelona, Espanyol has again played a few bad games and lost in the previous two championship rounds, while Barcelona on the other hand made four victories after a defeat from Espanyol, two of which they celebrated in the championship. At the beginning of September, Barcelona defeated Espanyol with 5-0 in the championship.
Espanyol is sinking on the table and this team urgently needs one win, but the problem that their schedule has brought them Barcelona for their rival, which is invincible in the La Liga, although Espanyol showed that they were not exactly invincible in all competitions and they have inflicted them the only defeat this season. Unfortunately for Espanyol, these 1-0 were not enough for pass, because they lost with 2-0 in the rematch and it should be said that their did not play in the strongest composition in that first round.
However, Espanyol has finished their competition in the Cup and they are now turning to the championship where they do not want to endanger their Premiership status and therefore they need better performances than the one against Sevilla when they lost with 3-0 and against Leganes in the last round when they were defeated with 3-2. The main culprit was Hermoso, who scored two own goals, and it should be said that they lost their midfielder J.Fuego instead of which they engaged C.Sanchez.
Probable lineups Espanyol: Di.Lopez – Navarro, Hermoso, O.Duarte, Martin – Da.Lopez, V.Sanchez – S.Garcia, Darder, Baptistao – G.Moreno
There have been some minor problems in Barcelona’s game lately, but they are still not felt in their results, and this team mostly wins. The first defeat they experienced was from Espanyol in the Cup and they compensated it in the rematch and went in the semi-finals, after which they mastered Betis away with 5-0, with the proviso that hey scored all goals in the second half. That they were not exactly at the top level is also showed by a home match with Alaves, when they with a lot of problems and after a turnover in the finish celebrated with 2-1.
It was not easy either in the first match of the semi-finals of the Cup against Valencia and they are taking only 1-0 from Nou Camp in the rematch. Messi and L.Suarez are in very good mood lately, who brought them a turnover against Alaves, and Suarez also scored the only goal against Valencia. Coutinho had his debut, their last big boost, with the proviso that he was resting in the Cup, and he entered from the bench, like Paulinho. Now both of them could be starters, while Dembele is still out of action due to injury.
Probable lineups FC Barcelona: ter Stegen – S.Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, J.Alba – Busquets, Paulinho, Rakitic, Coutinho – Messi, L.Suarez
Espanyol plays pretty bad, but they get a special motive against their city rivals and we expect them to provide a good resistance in this duel. Barcelona is not playing very good lately, so we do not believe they can master their host, which means there will not be too many goals.
Pick: under 3 goals 1.77
- 77/100 @1XBet