Barcelona will be aiming to move level on points with second-placed Sevilla in the La Liga table when the two teams lock horns at Camp Nou on Sunday night.
The home side are currently third in Spain's top flight, three points behind second-placed Sevilla, who have seen their title hopes fade in recent weeks by winning just one of their last five in the league.
Match preview
© Reuters
Barcelona have certainly had their problems this season, but the team appear to be firmly heading in the right direction once again under Xavi, who has made huge changes since his arrival as head coach.
The fact that the Catalan giants are not present in the latter stages of the Champions League is a huge disappointment for the club, but they are bidding to win the Europa League this season, preparing to take on German side Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals over two legs this month.
Barcelona entered the international break off the back of a 4-0 win over Real Madrid at El Clasico, with the result sending shockwaves around European football, and Xavi's team now have second-placed Sevilla in their sights, but Real Madrid are still 12 points ahead of them at the top of the table.
The Catalan giants have won each of their last five in the league - three of which have been 4-0 - while they are unbeaten in Spain's top flight since the start of December, which has allowed them to move into the top four, which is crucial due to their ongoing financial problems.
Barcelona have only actually won one of their last four league matches against Sevilla, with three draws taking place during that run, although they are unbeaten against Sunday's opponents in the league since October 2015 and will enter this contest as the favourites.
© Reuters
Sevilla were disappointingly knocked out of the Europa League by West Ham United in the middle of March, while they have seen their title hopes evaporate in recent weeks.
Julen Lopetegui's side have only won one of their last five in the league and just two of their last nine, posting seven draws during that run, which has seen them fall nine points behind division leaders Real Madrid.
Sevilla are now also only three points ahead of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid but crucially have a seven-point advantage over fifth-placed Real Betis, so it would be a shock if they dropped out of the Champions League positions at this stage of the campaign.
Los Nervionenses have only lost two of their 15 away league games this season, boasting the fifth-best record on their travels in Spain's top flight in 2021-22. However, Barcelona have won nine of their 13 La Liga fixtures at Camp Nou and will enter this match in much better form.
Sevilla are no longer in the title race and will be feeling the pressure from the two teams directly behind them, and the club have also started to suffer a number of injury problems at the worst possible stage of the campaign.
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- W
- D
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Barcelona have been boosted by the returns of Ansu Fati and Samuel Umtiti to training following long spells on the sidelines, but the pair are still not available for selection.
Sergino Dest and Sergio Roberto are also out of this match, but the home team have no fresh fitness concerns, and it would not be a shock to see the same XI that took to the field for El Clasico last time out.
Ousmane Dembele's recent form has been excellent, and the France international is expected to feature alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres in the final third of the field.
Meanwhile, Dest's absence could see Ronald Araujo again get the nod at right-back despite the availability of Dani Alves, with Eric Garcia featuring alongside Gerard Pique in the middle.
Luuk de Jong would have been available to face his parent club on Sunday, but the experienced striker is out of the match after a positive COVID-19 test.
As for Sevilla, Fernando, Yassine Bounou, Thomas Delaney, Rafa Mir, Marcos Acuna, Suso, Karim Rekik and Alejandro Gomez are all currently on the sidelines through injury.
Diego Carlos could return in the middle of the defence, though, and there will be changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Real Sociedad last time out.
Youssef En-Nesyri could get the nod at centre-forward, with Anthony Martial potentially moving out to the left, while Munir El Haddadi is likely to face his former club, possibly lining up in the number 10 position.
Joan Jordan and Ivan Rakitic are both expected to return for Sevilla in the middle of the park, replacing the injured Delaney and Oliver Torres.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Araujo, Pique, E Garcia, Alba; F de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Aubameyang, F Torres
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Augustinsson; Jordan, Rakitic; Ocampos, Munir, Martial; En-Nesyri
We say: Barcelona 2-1 Sevilla
Barcelona are on a roll at the moment, and we are expecting the Catalan side to pick up another three points in this match. Sevilla do not lose often but are missing some key players, and we are finding it difficult to back Lopetegui's side to pick up a positive result on Sunday evening due to the form of both teams.
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 63.02%. A draw had a probability of 21.8% and a win for Sevilla had a probability of 15.17%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.09%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.25%) and 2-1 (9.66%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.32%), while for a Sevilla win it was 0-1 (5.52%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Barcelona in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Barcelona.
