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La Liga | Gameweek 18
Dec 18, 2021 at 5.30pm UK
Camp Nou
Elche

Barcelona
3 - 2
Elche

Jutlga Blanc (16'), Gavi (19'), Gonzalez (85')
Garcia (79')
FT(HT: 2-0)
Morente (62'), Milla (63')
Milla (71'), Gumbau (77'), Roco (86')

Preview: Barcelona vs. Elche - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's La Liga clash between Barcelona and Elche, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Barcelona will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they welcome lowly Elche to Camp Nou on Saturday night.

Xavi's side are currently eighth in Spain's top flight, having picked up just 24 points from their opening 16 games of the season, while Elche sit 16th with only 15 points to show from their first 17 matches.


Match preview

Barcelona coach Xavi during the match on November 23, 2021© Reuters

Barcelona won their first two La Liga matches under Xavi's management against Espanyol and Villarreal, but the Catalan giants have picked up just one point from their last two games, losing at home to Real Betis on December 4 before being held to a 2-2 draw by Osasuna last weekend.

The La Liga outfit were also knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage last week, with the club instead dropping into the Europa League, where they have been paired with Italian side Napoli.

Barcelona also took on Boca Juniors in the inaugural Diego Maradona Cup on Tuesday, with the Argentine side winning on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Saudi Arabia.

Xavi's team must now focus on returning to winning ways in the league, as a disappointing campaign to date has seen them collect just 24 points from 16 matches, with that total only enough for eighth position, five points off fourth-placed Atletico Madrid and 18 behind leaders Real Madrid.

Blaugrana are not going to challenge for the title this season but simply must finish in the top four in order to avoid more financial problems, and there is no downplaying the importance of this weekend's contest.

Elche's Gonzalo Verdu in action with Atletico Madrid's Thomas Lemar on August 22, 2021© Reuters

Elche, meanwhile, have won three, drawn six and lost eight of their 17 league games this season to collect 15 points, which has left them in 16th position in the table.

Los Franjiverdes finished 17th last season on their return to this level of football, so it is not too much of a surprise to see them towards the bottom of the division heading towards the winter break.

Elche have been in impressive form since Francisco's arrival as head coach at the end of November, though, winning three of their last four matches in all competitions, two of which have come in the Copa del Rey against Leioa and Unionistas de Salamanca.

The Green-striped ones recorded a 3-1 win over Cadiz in the league on December 5, meanwhile, but they were beaten 2-1 by Valencia at Mestalla in their last league match.

Elche lost both league games against Barcelona last season, conceding five times and scoring zero, while the strugglers have only managed to record one away victory in La Liga this term.

Barcelona La Liga form:
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D

Barcelona form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • L

Elche La Liga form:
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • L

Elche form (all competitions):
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W



Team News

Barcelona's Memphis Depay on September 14, 2021© Reuters

Barcelona's injury list remains substantial, with Sergino Dest, Memphis Depay, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Pedri, Ansu Fati and Martin Braithwaite all ruled out of this weekend's contest, while Gerard Pique is suspended.

Ousmane Dembele is also allegedly a doubt with the issue that he picked up against Osasuna, so Xavi has limited options when it comes to the forward positions.

Both Gavi and Abde Ezzalzouli are expected to feature in a front three, while there could be another start for on-loan Sevilla forward Luuk de Jong amid suggestions that the club will not play Yusuf Demir until February due a clause in his contract surrounding playing appearances.

Sergio Aguero, meanwhile, announced his retirement from professional football on Wednesday, with the Argentina international being forced to hang up his boots due to a heart problem.

As for Elche, Pedro Bigas remains on the sidelines with a groin issue, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape heading into this weekend's contest.

Lucas Boye and Lucas Perez played as a front two against Valencia last weekend and that is again expected to be the case at Camp Nou, with Tete Morente and Fidel operating in the wide areas.

Omar Mascarell, Diego Gonzalez and Edgar Badia will also be among those to return to the side, with Francisco making changes for Wednesday's Copa del Rey clash with Unionistas de Salamanca.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Araujo, Lenglet, Garcia, Mingueza; Nico, Busquets, F de Jong; Gavi, L de Jong, Ezzalzouli

Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Palacios, Roco, Gonzalez, Barragan; Morente, Marcone, Mascarell, Fidel; Perez, Boye


SM words green background

We say: Barcelona 1-0 Elche

It is difficult to back Barcelona with any real confidence at the moment, particularly considering their injury problems, and Elche are capable of making this a tricky encounter. We are actually expecting this to be another tight match at Camp Nou but are tipping Xavi's side to navigate their way to all three points.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barcelona win with a probability of 71.96%. A draw had a probability of 17.8% and a win for Elche had a probability of 10.28%.

The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.11%) and 3-0 (9.83%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.43%), while for a Elche win it was 0-1 (3.82%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Barcelona would win this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Barcelona vs Elche

Barcelona
73.1%
Draw
21.0%
Elche
5.9%
119
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona14111242142834
2Real Madrid1393128111730
3Atletico MadridAtletico148512181329
4Villarreal137422521425
5Athletic Bilbao146532013723
6Osasuna146441922-322
7GironaGirona146352018221
8Mallorca146351312121
9Real BetisBetis145541616020
10Real Sociedad145361111018
11Celta Vigo145362224-218
12Sevilla145361318-518
13Rayo Vallecano134451314-116
14Leganes143561319-614
15Getafe142751011-113
16AlavesAlaves144191524-913
17Las PalmasLas Palmas143381825-712
18Valencia122461219-710
19Espanyol133191226-1410
20Real ValladolidValladolid142391027-179


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