Barcelona vs Alaves
Spain-La Liga
Date: Saturday, 13 February 2021
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Venue: Camp Nou (Barcelona).
After surviving Real Betis at Estadio Benito Villamarin, Barcelona will be looking to keep their La Liga title hopes alive when they host Alaves at their Camp Nou.
NEXT GAME: #BarçaAlavés Saturday at 9pm CET pic.twitter.com/f4G3PLucrN
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 11, 2021
The Catalan giants showed character in their last league match, and, no doubt, they are high on confidence ahead of the visit of the Basque outfit.
Leo Messi, who has been in a splendid form of late, is likely to prove a handful for the opposition defenders.
Centre-back Araujo, who suffered an ankle injury in the 3-2 win over Real Betis, is unlikely to feature against Barca.
Anyhow, the Catalan giants are a real force to be reckoned with at home, and we predict that they are going to pick up all three points from Saturday’s football game.
Alaves did well to beat Valladolid at home on Matchday 22, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry in the Camp Nou showdown.
🔊 Turning our focus towards #BarçaAlavés pic.twitter.com/ckFP5n2ysv
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 12, 2021
Barcelona vs Alaves Head-to-head (h2h)
Teams Barcelona Alaves played so far 24 matches.
Barcelona won 17 direct matches. Alaves won 4 matches. 3 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 3.13 goals per Match.
Barcelona vs Alaves Prediction
Barcelona in actual season average scored 2.15 goals per match. In 14 (93.33%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 12 (80.00%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Alaves average scored 0.90 goals per match in season 2021. In 10 (76.92%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 5 (38.46%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Barca will again be without the services of Ansu Fati, Gerard Pique, Philippe Coutinho, Sergi Roberto, Ronald Araujo and Martin Braithwaite for this game, while Miralem Pjanic and Sergino Dest are both doubts.
Clement Lenglet should replace Samuel Umtiti at the back following the clash with Sevilla, but Koeman is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes.
Barca face PSG next week in the Champions League, but Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele should all start on Saturday, with Trincao likely to be involved from the bench in the second half.
As for Alaves, Rodrigo Ely is still unavailable for selection, but the visitors are otherwise in strong shape heading into the contest, with Victor Laguardia fit to start in the middle of the defence.
Head coach Abelardo is expected to keep faith with the majority of the side that started the win over Valladolid, meaning that Joselu should again be joined by Lucas Perez in the final third of the field.
On-loan Manchester United attacker Facundo Pellistri was an unused substitute last time out, and the Uruguayan youngster will be hoping to make his debut in this game.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Griezmann, Messi, Dembele
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Navarro, Laguardia, Lejeune, Duarte; Mendez, Garcia, Pina, Rioja; Perez, Joselu