Match preview
Barcelona will welcome Deportivo Alaves to Camp Nou as they aim to keep up the pace on league leaders Atletico Madrid. Los Blaugrana, following a turbulent start, have slowly accrued wins and now sit eight points behind Los Rojiblancos on the league table. However, they enter the weekend with a fresh wound from their setback in the Copa del Rey. Against Sevilla in midweek, Ronald Koeman's men were put to the sword, suffering a 2-0 defeat to exit the semi-final of the competition.
Indeed, the game's outcome was a blip as Barca had managed a six-game winning run prior to it. They are on a superb run in the league as they have gone 11 games without recording a single loss. In all, it has yielded 29 points out of 33 points. Against a struggling Alaves side, they will very much fancy their chances of running away with a win.
El Glorisso, up until Gameweek 22's victory over Real Valladolid, were without a win in their last five appearances in all competitions. This included a run of four successive losses before the draw with Getafe. The poor run has seen them languishing at the bottom half of the league table with just two points separating them and relegation-battling Valladolid.
One could make a case for Alaves to potentially upset Barcelona at home come Saturday but the fact that they have managed two wins in 10 away appearances does not give a positive indication for that to happen. This, coupled with the fact that Abelardo Fernández's men have not won against the Camp Nou in nine appearances, puts them at a strong disadvantage going into the weekend's encounter.
Key stats
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Barcelona are unbeaten in eight games against Alavés with a record of seven wins and a draw.
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Barcelona have won 12 of 15 league meetings between the two sides played at Camp Nou.
Team news
Barcelona will host Alaves at Camp Nou without the service of Ansu Fati, Gerard Piqué, Philippe Coutinho, and Sergi Roberto. The injury list is further extended with Ronald Araujo completely ruled out of contention with a thigh injury.
Meanwhile, the availability of Sergiño Dest, Miralem Pjanic, and Martin Braithwaite remain uncertain. For Alaves, Rodrigo Ely is the only player expected to sit out the encounter.
Predicted starting XI
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Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; Pjanic, De Jong, Pedri; Trincão, Messi, Griezmann
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Alavés: Pacheco; Martín, Laguardia, Lejeune, Duarte; Méndez, Pina, García, Rioja; Pérez, Joselu
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
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