Barcelona will face Valencia as they welcome them to Camp Nou on Sunday evening hoping to secure all three points and maintain their lead at the top of the La Liga standings. The Catalan club recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, so we can expect them to give a better performance this weekend.
Xavi will probably opt for a 4-4-2 formation with the lack of attacking options in the squad and is expected to make a few changes to the starting XI. Gavi, Raphinha, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski all remain unavailable for this contest as the former two remain suspended while the latter are recovering from their injuries.
4-4-2 Barcelona Predicted XI Vs Valencia
Defence
Marc-André ter Stegen will operate in between the sticks for Barca after shipping in one goal in his last outing. Ronald Araujo will replace Eric Garcia to form the centre-half partnership with Andreas Christensen at the heart of Xavi’s backline looking to keep things solid at the back during the game.
Sergi Roberto will keep his place as the right-back while Jordi Alba replaces Alejandro Balde hoping to give a good account of himself on the other flank as the left-back. Both of them will need to defend their lines well and make some decent runs with the ball out on the wide areas.
Alejandro Balde and Eric Garcia will offer cover for the defensive positions as they take a spot on the bench.
Midfield
Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie will anchor Barca’s midfield as they try to dominate possession at the centre of the park and engineer some clear-cut chances in the attacking third.
Frenkie De Jong and Marcos Alonso will function as the right and left-sided wide players looking to stretch the opposition in the final third.
Pablo Torre will have to settle for a spot on the bench and might come on to influence the game in the second half if Xavi opts to call upon his services.
Attack
Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres will form a two-man strike team to lead the charge against the opposition as they fancy their chances of finding the back of the net and getting their name on the scoresheet.
Robert Lewandowski will be unable to recover in time for this contest but Angel Alarcon will be available for selection on the bench as he waits for his chance to shine in the latter stages of the game.
