FC Barcelona vs Espanyol Prediction

This Sunday’s La Liga match sees Espanyol make the trip to face top of the league side FC Barcelona at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. This is a huge match given the rivalry between the two sides and Barcelona result could have serious implications as Barca currently have a six point gap to second place Real Madrid so they desperately do not want to drop points.

Key Stats

• Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 11 meetings with Sevilla (7W-4D)
• Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski is the La Liga Golden Boot leader with 14 goals
• Barcelona have scored 21 goals in their last 5 games whereas Sevilla have scored 7 goals in their last 5

Team Previews, Form and Standout Players

You can never write off Barcelona as they have been phenomenal this season, winning every game bar one. A key factor behind that has been Robert Lewandowski who has bagged himself 14 goals in the 11 games of the season so far. Barca’s Raphinha has also turned up this season with six goals and six assists domestically.

Both sides have injuries in key areas so each manager will have a hard time choosing their starting 11s but it is Barca who on paper have the better chance with the talent they have available.

FC Barcelona Preview

Predicted Line-Up: Iñaki Peña; Alejandro Balde, Iñigo Martínez, Pau Cubarsí, Jules Koundé; Marc Casadó, Pedri; Raphinha, Fermín López, Lamine Yamal; Robert Lewandowski

Improving on last year’s second place finish, Barcelona are top of the La Liga standings after 11 games. 10 wins and only one loss, a shock defeat to Osasuna sees them with 30 points. Barca are a whole six points clear of second place which happens to be their fierce rivals Real Madrid. Hansi Flick has been doing an excellent job taking over the role from Barca legend Xavi over the summer and striker Robert Lewandowski is flying with 14 goals, top of the La Liga Golden Boot race with a four goal gap to second place. However, the more worrying issue is the injury crisis that Barcelona are suffering from.

La Blaugrana are missing some very key players for them. Goalkeeper and regular captain of the club Marc-André ter Stegen is out for the season with a ruptured knee. Barca brought in Wojciech Szczęsny for cover as they test out youngster Iñaki Peña. Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Ferran Torres are all set to miss this match and a few more in the future. This doesn’t look good surface level, but Barca will have most of their stars in the lineup.

Espanyol Preview

Predicted Line-Up: Joan García; Brian Oliván, Leandro Cabrera, Marash Kumbulla, Omar El Hilali; Jofre Carreras, José Gragera, Alex Král, Álvaro Tejero; Javi Puado, Walid Cheddira

It has been a disappointing couple of years for Espanyol. In the past five seasons they have been relegated into La Liga 2 twice. Espanyol currently stand in 17th after 11 games. Three wins, seven losses and one draws has left them with 10 points. Considering there is only a three point gap to 11th placed Celta Vigo on 13, it isn’t all doom and gloom for Espanyol fans. They are struggling for goals this season though. Espanyol’s top scorer after these 11 games is Javi Puado who has picked up three goals, the rest of their 10 goals have come from six other individuals so either Puado needs to find the back of the net more or his teammates need to find their shooting boots.

Similar to Barcelona, Los Periquitos are also missing some very key players for them. Midfielder Pol Lozano is expected to be unavailable for this important match as his has picked up a muscle injury. José Gragera looks to be back fit from their thigh problems so a role in the starting line up seems likely.

Head To Head Stats: FC Barcelona vs Espanyol

There have been 216 matches where these two teams have faced each other throughout history.

Barcelona unsurprisingly come into this match holding an advantage over Espanyol as they have come out victors on 126 occasions, 82 more times than Espanyol’s 44 wins in this fixture. A draw has happened 46 times out of the 216 games, leaving Barcelona with a confident 58.3% win percentage.

The last five faceoffs have been split in the favour of Barcelona but seeing as they are one of the greatest teams in footballing history, that doesn’t seem out of place. They have a great chance to add to their extensive win tally in this derby match on Sunday.

14th May 2023 – Espanyol 2-4 FC Barcelona – La Liga

31st December 2022 – FC Barcelona 1-1 Espanyol – La Liga

13th February 2022 – Espanyol 2-2 FC Barcelona – La Liga

30th November 2021 – FC Barcelona 1-0 Espanyol – La Liga

8th July 2021 – FC Barcelona 1-0 Espanyol – La Liga

Betting Tips For FC Barcelona vs Espanyol

Barcelona play really good football under Hansi Flick, combining the talent from the superstars that have made their way over and the exuberance of the La Masia youth prospects. Espanyol are a decent side on their day but that doesn’t come up as much anymore. We think Barcelona should have this one in the bag.

For that reason, our betting experts have gone with a FC Barcelona To Win + Over 2.5 Goals as our best value tip for this game.

Odds of x/x mean that a £10 bet has the potential to return up to £x in this match.

(odds subject to change)

Final Prediction: FC Barcelona vs Espanyol

FC Barcelona 3-0 Espanyol

Barca are in great form and top of the table, Robert Lewandowski is in amazing form and Espanyol have struggled away from home. Everything is adding up in favour of a Barcelona win and that is what we can see happening.