Barcelona travel to the Balearic Islands in search of their next 3 points. The Catalans have been in imperious form in La Liga and will be confident going into this game. Xavi's men will want to shake off the perils of the international break and get back into rhythm for what looks to be a really intense October.
Mallorca, the hosts, have been inconsistent this season and while they've been able to find the back of the net in each of their last 5 games, they haven't been able to gather as much points as they'd like. They were able to scrape up a narrow win against Almeria at home before the break thanks to Pablo Maffeo's lone strike, but they'll be fully aware of the herculean task that lies ahead as it's Barcelona who have come to town this time around.
INTERESTING STATS
- Back in the 1999-2000 season, Mallorca beat Barça both home and away, but in 29 league meetings since then, Barça have only lost to the islanders three times (and twice at home), although all of those were late season encounters without too much left to play for.
- Barcelona have won their last nine matches against RCD Mallorca in all competitions, having won 12 of their last 13 away games against the home side.
- Barcelona have scored at least three goals in their last five league matches and have have won nine of their last ten away matches (La Liga).
- Barcelona have kept a clean sheet in their last four matches (La Liga).
- Barcelona have kept a clean sheet in five of their last six away matches against Mallorca in all competitions.
- Mallorca have won four of their last six games at home.
Last five meetings (all La Liga)
01/05/22 Barça 2-1 Mallorca
02/01/22 Mallorca 0-1 Barça
13/06/20 Mallorca 0-4 Barça
07/12/19 Barça 5-2 Mallorca
06/04/13 Barça 5-0 Mallorca
TEAM NEWS
Mallorca
Javier Aguirre will be without Goalkeeper Dominik Greif (Hip Injury), Forwards Tino Kadewere (Quadriceps Injury) and Amath Ndiaye (Finger Injury). The coach will likely resist the temptation to make changes to the starting lineup that defeated Almeria. Predrag Rajkovic is expected to start in goal. The likes of Matija Nastasic, Antonio Raillo and Martin Valjent are expected to start in defense.
Pablo Maffeo and Jaume Costa are very attack minded fullbacks but they might be required to do a lot of defending this time around and hope for a chance on the counter. In the central midfield, Rodrigo Battaglia is expected to line up alongside Antonio Sanchez and Dani Rodriguez.
Kang-in Lee has been superb this season, with 1 goal and 3 assists so far. His partner up front, Vedat Muriqi, has had 3 goals, all headers. Barcelona will have to ensure they're well contained.
Barcelona
International breaks are rarely kind to Barcelona, and this time was no different. The club quickly racked up the injuries, with Jules Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Frenkie DeJong and Memphis Depay all falling victims. Ousmane Dembele had a scare but he's been confirmed fit and ready. Héctor Bellerín wasn't called up by Spain, but that didn't spare him the trip to the treatment room. Sergi Roberto has recovered from his injury and is part of the squad.
Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie, Sergio Busquets and Ansu Fati are expected to return to the starting lineup. Robert Lewandowski is definitely expected to start and Raphinha will likely be chosen to complete the front line. Xavi will have the midweek game against Inter in mind and rotations are expected.
Where and when are Mallorca vs Barcelona playing?
Location: Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Stadium: Iberostar Estadi
Date: Saturday 1 October
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST
VAR: Santiago Jaime Latre
Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano
CONCLUSION
Despite being riddled with injuries, Barcelona are undoubtedly the better team going into this game, on paper and based on current form.
Mallorca have struggled continuously against Barcelona in the past and will likely do so again. They took the lead against Real Madrid earlier in the season, but inevitably yielded.
Barcelona, La liga's most ruthless attack and tightest defense currently, should equally prove too hot to handle for the Islanders.
No comments:
Post a Comment