LA LIGA PREVIEW: MALLORCA VS BARCELONA

INTRODUCTION

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.

LA LIGA PREVIEW: BARCELONA VS ELCHE

INTRODUCTION

  Barcelona will aim to return back to winning ways when they host Elche on Saturday afternoon.

  The defeat in Munich was a wake up call for the Catalans, as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat despite going toe to toe with the Germans for most of the game. They were surprisingly blunt in attack, and Xavi will hope things change for the better as they return back to Laliga action.

  The visitors are in a bit of a pickle themselves, sitting 19th in the table with a solitary point to their name. They were battered by Ernesto Valverde's Athletic Club last weekend, and have conceded 13 goals while scoring 2 so far, but Francisco will hope to get his team's engine running as soon as possible.

INTERESTING STATS 

- Barcelona have an impressive record against Elche and have won 26 out of the 46 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Elche's eight victories.

- Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 19 matches against Elche in La Liga, with their previous league defeat against the away side coming in 1974.

- Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 23 matches against Elche at home in La Liga, their best home record against a single opponent in the top flight.

- Elche are winless in their last five matches in La Liga and have lost their last three games in the competition - their longest losing steak since 2014.

- Barcelona have kept clean sheets in their last three La Liga matches - they have not kept four consecutive league matches in the competition since 2020.

- Barcelona have secured 13 points in their first five La Liga matches this season - their best start to the campaign since the 2018-19 season

Last five meetings

06/03/22 (LIGA) Elche 1 FC Barcelona 2 (Torres, Memphis)

18/12/21 (LIGA) FC Barcelona 3 (Jutglà, Gavi, Nico) Elche 2

24/02/21 (LIGA) FC Barcelona 3 Elche 0 (Messi 2, Alba)

24/01/21 (LIGA) Elche 0 FC Barcelona 2 (De Jong, Puig)

19/09/20 (GAMPER) FC Barcelona 1 (Griezmann) Elche 0

TEAM NEWS

Barcelona

  Sergi Roberto has picked up an Achilles injury and has been ruled out of this clash.

Every other player is available for Xavi. Bellerin, Balde, DeJong, Kessie and Garcia are all pushing for starting spots and alterations are expected.  Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati are also considered to potentially be in the starting lineup. Robert Lewandowski will want to get over his profligacy in front of goal as exhibited in Munich as soon as possible.

Elche

  Los Franjiverdes will be without  Gonzalo Verdou and Gerard Gumbau through groin and hamstring injuries respectively.

Omar Mascarell is also a doubt.

Barcelona player Alex Collado is sure to relish taking on his former club, while Ezequiel Ponce and Fidel are also tipped to start.

Where are Barcelona vs Elche playing?

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Stadium: Spotify Camp Nou

Date: Saturday 17 September

Kick-off Time: 15:15 BST / 10:15 EST / 07:15 PST

VAR: González Gonzàlez

Referee: Alejandro Muniz

CONCLUSION

Elche were close to causing an upset the last time they visited Camp Nou, but it's hard to see them doing so this time around. Barcelona will want to bounce back from their European disappointment in a big way, and they'll aim to make it 5  comfortable la Liga wins in a row.