Barcelona will face off against Alaves at the Mendizorrotza Stadium on Sunday night hoping to pick up all three points on the road. The Catalans managed to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid in El Clasico last weekend by claiming maximum points away at Juventus in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
Ronald Koeman will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation once again and could bring Ansu Fati back into his starting XI for this clash at the Basque Country.
4-2-3-1 Barcelona Predicted Lineup To Face Alaves
Defence
Neto is expected to feature in between the sticks for Barca in the absence of Marc-André ter Stegen who is still recovering from his knee injury. Clement Lenglet will get the nod to operate alongside Gerard Pique at the heart of the Catalans backline as they try to keep things tidy at the back this weekend.
Sergiño Dest could lineup at right-back after he was handed a rest in midweek. Jordi Alba will once again play on the other side as the left-back. Koeman will ask both of them to be more adventurous than usual and make some overlapping runs in the final third.
Sergi Roberto will be available for selection on Koeman’s bench as he offers some much-needed cover for the defensive positions. However, Ronald Araujo picked up an injury versus Juventus, which will rule him out of this contest versus Alaves.
Midfield
Frenkie de Jong and Miralem Pjanić will anchor the midfield for Barcelona as they look to retain possession well at the centre of the field and orchestrate some meaningful openings for the front players. The attack-minded trio of Pedri, Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati will operate just ahead of them as part of the Catalans attack. Messi managed to get a goal and an assist to his name in his last outing, which will give a lot of momentum heading into this showdown against Pablo Marchin’s men.
Ousmane Dembele might have to settle for a spot on the bench as he awaits his chance to shine as a second-half substitute if needed.
Attack
Antoine Griezmann will probably get another opportunity to lead the charge up top. The French attacker is yet to open his goal-scoring or assists account for this campaign after making five appearances for the Spanish outfit so far this season. Hence, he needs to put in a good performance versus Alaves so that he can get some confidence back in his game for the remainder of this campaign.
Martin Braithwaite will make up the numbers on the bench but could come on to influence the game in the second half if required.
