La Liga 2022-23: Espanyol vs FC Barcelona Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

Derby time in Spain as relegation-threatened Espanyol hosts the league leaders Catalonians.

With the season coming to an end, Barcelona are edging close to winning LaLiga with 13 and 14 points lead over both the Madrid clubs sitting behind them on the table, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Espanyol vs FC Barcelona promises to be a cracking Barcelona derby.

They travel to Cornellana in a bid to win three straight games while their derby rivals are completely on the other side of the ladder as they are sitting on the 19th spot and will look to go tied on points with Getafe and Valencia who are just three points separated from the 19th spot team.

In the last fixture at home against Osasuna, the league leaders won 1-0 which makes it total of 11 wins by a 1-0 scoreline in their 33 LaLiga games this season, which equals the record for most 1-0 victories in a full season in the competition, previously done by Valencia in 1988/89, Atlético de Madrid in 2017/18 and Sevilla in 2020/21.

However, Barcelona have failed to win their last two away games in La Liga (D1 L1), while they’re yet to go without a win in three in a row away from home under Xavi Hernández in the competition.

Talking about their derby rivals who lost in a five goal thriller against Sevilla, which now makes it one win out of the previous five games, find themselves at the bottom of the table.

Espanyol come into derby with an unwanted record as they have now gone 25 derbies in a row without a win against Barcelona in LaLiga (D7 L18), the worst winless run against an opponent in their top-flight history, and the worst winless streak by any team in any regional derby in the competition.

The only bright side for them is that Espanyol are unbeaten in their last two home games in LaLiga (W1 D1), keeping a clean sheet in both. The last time Espanyol had three straight clean sheets at home in the competition was in April 2022 under Vicente Moreno.

Barcelona have not lost any of their last 14 away games against Espanyol in LaLiga (W7 D7) since a 1-3 defeat at the Lluís Companys in January 2007. Barcelona are the team that has visited the RCDE Stadium the most times in the competition without losing (G12 W6 D6). Espanyol will be looking to break that streak at cause an upset but more than that they will need to have positive results from their remaining fixture to stay top-flight next season.

Kick-off

Sunday, 14-05-2023, 03:00 pm (ET)

Monday, 15-05-2023, 12:30 am (IST)

Stadium: RCDE Stadium, Cornellana, Spain

Espanyol Form (In All Competitions): L- W- L- D- L

FC Barcelona Form (In All Competitions): W- W- L- W- D

Player to watch

Espanyol: Joselu Mato

Espanyol's striker has scored 14 goals in 30 games in La Liga 2022/23, equalling his best single-season tally in his career in Europe's top five leagues (14 goals in 37 games for Alavés in 2021/22). Mato's goals came from 51 shots, 1.7 per game, and along with one assist for his team.

He has been running a one-man show for the underwhelming team and could be on the score sheet again if Espanyol plays their heart out because many teams have failed to break their deadlock this season.

FC Barcelona: Robert Lewandowski

The Polish international has scored 19 goals in 29 games for Barcelona in LaLiga with 89 shots taken and a rate of 3.1 per game. If he scores in this game, he will become the fourth fastest player to reach 20 goals in the competition in the 21st century, after Júlio Baptista in 2004 (30 matches), Radamel Falcao in 2012 (26) and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2010 (24) which is an elite group of names to be included in considering his 01st season at the club.

Match Facts for Espanyol vs FC Barcelona

• Luis García Fernández will face Barcelona for the first time as RCD Espanyol manager in LaLiga. Only five coaches of the Perico side have won their first derby against the Blaugranas in the competition, with the last one being Mauricio Pochettino in February 2009 (2-1).
• After the 1-1 draw at Camp Nou in the reverse fixture, Espanyol have the chance to go unbeaten in their two meetings with Barcelona in a single season in LaLiga for the first time since 2007/08 under Ernesto Valverde (D2).
• Barcelona have 101 wins in 175 La Liga matches against Espanyol, the second-best record of wins by a team against a single opponent in the top flight, after Real Madrid's 107 wins against Espanyol.

Injury and Team News for Espanyol vs. FC Barcelona

Espanyol: Injury -  Josr Gragera (Ankle Injury)

FC Barcelona: Injury – Sergi Roberto (Hamstring)

Head to Head stats

Matches – 20

Espanyol – 12

FC Barcelona – 04

Draws – 04

Predicted Lineups for Espanyol vs. FC Barcelona

Espanyol Predicted Lineup (5- 4- 1)

F. Pacheco, L. Cabrera, Sergi Gomez, C. Montes, B. Olivan, Oscar Gil, Javi Puado, Denis Suarez, Darder, Nico Meamed, Joselu

FC Barcelona Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1)

M. ter Stegen, A. Balde, A. Christensen, R. Araujo, J. Kounde, F. de jong, Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, Raphinha, R. Lewandowski

Match Prediction for Espanyol vs. FC Barcelona

Espanyol need a result out of this match more than Barcelona, as they are in the relegation battle being ranked in 19th place. But it is unlikely that the team which has only lost three games the whole season and drew another four will drop points against the struggling home side.

Barcelona’s scoring differential ranks first in LaLiga, with 60 goals scored and 11 allowed whereas Espanyol’s 40 goals scored and 56 conceded make them No. 16 in LaLiga in goal differential. Barcelona should win the match unless the home side produces an extraordinary performance to play them out.

Prediction: Espanyol 1 - 2 FC Barcelona

Telecast

India – Jio TV

USA – ESPN+

United Kingdom - Free Sports

Nigeria – Supersport, StarTimes, Canal+