La Liga: Espanyol vs Barcelona live
Preview
Barcelona will try to make it three consecutive La Liga triumphs when they face Catalan rivals Espanyol in the Barcelona derby tonight at 20:00 GMT at RCDE Stadium.
After securing a return to La Liga by winning the Segunda Division last season, consolidation was always going to be Espanyol’s first aim during the 2021-22 season, thus despite their recent troubles, it has been a rather successful season so far. However, the Catalan team has collected 27 points from 23 games, putting them in 13th place in the standings, three points below the top ten and nine points clear of the relegation zone moving into the final months of the season.
Espanyol remain without a victory in the league since the end of December, though, picking up only one point from their past four matches against Elche, Cadiz, Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao. They will be hoping to make a statement going forward into this game today.
Barca, conversely, overcame Alaves 1-0 on January 23 before defeating Atletico Madrid 4-2 the following weekend, with Adama Traore making his second appearance for the club and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang making his first appearance since joining from Arsenal before the transfer deadline.
Xavi’s side scored all four of their goals against Atletico Madrid in the first 49 minutes, moving them over the defending champions into fourth place in the league, only two points behind third-placed Real Betis with a game in hand. Barca, who haven’t lost at Espanyol in La Liga since February 2009, have struggled to win on the road this season, picking up maximum points on three occasions and only 15 points from 11 away games.
Head-to-head
The home team have only won 34 of their past 173 La Liga encounters against Barcelona, losing 101 of them, including a 1-0 setback at Camp Nou in November.
Prediction
Meetings between these two teams are usually exciting, and this weekend’s match promises to be no exception. Espanyol will like their prospects of causing issues, especially with De Tomas back in the line-up, but we anticipate Barcelona to continue their winning streak in La Liga.
Live Stream: Link 1, Link 2
