Barcelona travel to Mestalla for their next big La Liga adventure in what promises to be an enthralling contest.
It's not been a great October for FC Barcelona. Succumbing to their first League loss against their arch rivals, falling out of the Champions League group stages for the second year in a row with 1 victory out of 5, it's been a month to forget for the club.
Domestically however, they've been impressive. With back to back convincing wins last week, the Catalans will now face a somewhat valiant Valencia away from home.
Gennaro Gattuso has had mixed results with Valencia since his appointment, with 4 wins, 4 losses and 3 draws in his first 11 games. They were on a five game unbeaten streak before that ended against Mallorca on home turf. They'll be the fresher of the two sides as they have no European commitments, and will want to get a statement win against the Catalan giants.
INTERESTING STATS
- Barcelona have won 9 of their last 10 La Liga games.
- While they have been shoddy at the back in Europe, Barcelona’s defensive unit remains the best in the domestic circuit, having kept a clean sheet in 8 of their last 9 La Liga matches.
- Barcelona are undefeated in 16 of their last 17 away matches against Valencia in all competitions.
- Having suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Mallorca last time out, Valencia could endure back-to-back home defeats for the first time since October 2016.
- There have been over 2.5 goals involved in 7 of Valencia’s last 8 La Liga games, while 13 of the last 14 league meetings between these two have seen both teams find the back of the net. So, goals could well be on the cards.
- Valencia have only won three of their last 30 league meetings with Barça, and their 2-0 win in 2020 was their first at home to the Catalans since 2007. The other two victories were both at Camp Nou, 3-2 in 2014 and 2-1 in 2016
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
20/02/22 Valencia 1-4 Barça
17/9/21 Barça 3-1 Valencia
2/5/21 Valencia 2-3 Barça
19/12/20 Barça 2-2 Valencia
25/1/20 Valencia 2-0 Barça
TEAM NEWS.
Valencia
Los Che have a fair share of injuries and will be missing some key players for this clash.
Samu Castillejo, Jaume Domenech, Mouctar Diakhaby and Ilaix Moriba are all set to miss out. Yunus Musah is serving a one match suspension on Saturday. Due to contract logistics, Nico Gonzalez will not be playing against Barcelona.
Edison Cavani will likely lead the attack along with Justin Kluivert and Samuel Lino. Foulquierand Almeida will anchor the midfield with Guillamon, While Gaya, Cormet, Paulista and Correia will form the defense in front of Mamardashvili.
Barcelona
La Blaugrana remain without Araujo, Christensen, Depay and Roberto. After negative performances the last time out, Xavi will look to reshuffle the defense and midfield. Alonso, Busquets and Kessie are at risk of dropping out of the starting lineup.
TerStegen will continue between the sticks. Balde has been imperious as Left back and will once again start, with Kounde, Garcia and Bellerin completing the defense. Gavi will likely start in Midfield alongside Pedri and DeJong. Robert Lewandowski will start of course. Dembele has made a strong argument to start at Right wing, with Fati likely to start at the left.
Where And when are Valencia vs Barcelona playing?
Location: Valencia, Spain
Stadium: Estadio Mestalla
Date: Saturday 29 October
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST
VAR: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva
Referee: Ricardo De Burgo Bengoetxea
CONCLUSION
Los Che have an effective attack that could cause a somewhat shaky Barça defense a few problems. One of the most aggressive teams in the league in terms of press, they'll be the fresher of the two sides and are roaring to get back to winning ways.
Barcelona remain impressive in La Liga and are also looking for a big win after enduring another disappointing Champions League outing. It's going to be an eye catching game in which Barcelona look superior on paper and will want to make that count on the pitch.
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