Valencia are bound to receive an extremely hostile reception at the Camp Nou in a late Saturday evening kick-off against Barcelona. Valencia defeated Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final when the two teams last met.
Barcelona have endured a torrid start to the season with results not coming their way as they would have expected. Out of their opening three Primera Division fixtures, the Cules have won only one fixture. Valverde’s men have drawn one and lost one in the remaining two fixtures.
The Catalan side would be without the services of Ousmane Dembele, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti and Nelson Semedo. Although Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez have started to train separately from the squad, they are unlikely to feature in the encounter.
It will be interesting to see how Barcelona line-up for this fixture following Frenkie de Jong’s impressive performance for Netherlands against Germany. The local press has heavily criticised the former Bilbao manager for his deployment of the midfielder.
Here’s how Barcelona could line-up against Valencia on La Liga Matchday 4.
Defence
Marc Andre Ter Stegen is set to take charge between the sticks. The German goalie has failed to hold onto a single clean sheet this season and will be aiming to get one this time around. Sergi Roberto is expected to slot in at the right-back position in the absence of Nelson Semedo. Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet would occupy the centre back slots with Jordi Alba starting at the left-back position.
Barcelona’s defence has been a considerable area of concern this season and Valverde would want his players to perform to their standards with an intense fixture lined up against Borussia Dortmund in a few days.
Midfield
A very compact yet versatile midfield set-up is expected for this encounter against Valencia. The ever-reliant Busquets and Rakitic are expected to start in midfield along with Arturo Vidal. Frenkie de Jong is expected to be given a more advanced role for this encounter following the mid-week drama over his positioning in Barcelona’s starting eleven.
Attack
Carles Perez, who was impressive in Barcelona’s last league outing, is set to get the nod for this fixture as well with Luis Suarez’s availability still in doubt. Summer recruit, Antoine Griezmann would be leading the attack along with Perez. Griezmann has already found the back of the net twice this season in the Barcelona shirt.
4-3-1-2 Barcelona Predicted Lineup vs Valencia
Ter Stegen
Roberto – Pique – Lenglet – Alba
Rakitic – Busquets – Vidal
Frenkie
Perez – Griezmann
