Espanyol and Barcelona measure forces at RCDE Stadium, in a match for the 19th round of the First Division. In this stadium, the history of direct confrontations is favorable to the visiting team, which records 4 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in the last 7 games. In fact, the last time these two teams played a match at this stadium was on 08-12-2018, for the First Division, which ended Barcelona’s victory by (0-4). The goals of the match were scored by L. Messi (17 ‘e 65’), O. Dembélé (26 ‘) and L. Suárez (45’) for Barcelona. In this match, the home factor may be decisive, since Espanyol has considerable differences in its results at home and as a visitor.
Espanyol:
After 2 wins, 4 draws and 12 losses, the home team is currently in 20th place, with 10 points won. In his last game, he lost with CD Leganés out by (2‑0), after in the previous match having tied for (2‑2) at home, in a match against Real Betis. This is a team that curiously has been stronger as a visitor than in their home games, since in the last 30 matches it records 6 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses as a visitor; against 4 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses in his stadium. In their last 9 home games for the championship Espanyol drew 2 and lost 7, so they won 2 points in 27 possible.
For this competition, he did not win any of the last 9 games in his stadium. In their home league games the most frequent final result at the break was 0-1 (4 in 9 games). His defense has not been very solid, since he suffered goals in 9 of the last 10 games for this competition. There is a tendency to have goals in their home matches, since 8 of the last 9 matches they played for this competition have ended with Over 1.5 goals. In 18 games in the competition, he suffered the first goal 12 times and only got 1 comeback.
Espanyol arrives at this unmotivated match, after a 2-0 loss to Leganés. The Argentine Calleri is the great offensive reference of the team and its best quality is the completion. The highest quality of the home team are counterattacks and has fast and strong players in hand to hand. The local coach may not count on Piatti, Corchia, Melendo, Víctor Sánchez and Vargas, for having been injured. Keep in mind that Barn is suspended.
Barcelona:
The visiting team is currently in 1st position, with 39 points won, after 12 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. In the penultimate match, he tied at home against Real Madrid by (0-0). In the last game, he won at home against Deportivo Alavés by (4-1). This is a team that presents similar results at home and abroad, so it is not usually affected by the home factor, since in the last 30 matches it records 9 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses as a visitor; against 11 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in his stadium. In his last away game for this competition he tied for (2-2) against Real Sociedad. In its last 9 games as a visitor to the championship, Barcelona records 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, so it conquered 14 points in 27 possible. His defense has not been very solid, since he suffered goals in 7 of the last 10 games, but his attack has scored regularly, since he scored goals in 9 of the last 10 games for this competition. In 18 matches in this tournament, he suffered the first goal 6 times, but got the comeback in 2. There is 1 period that stands out in the last 20 away matches for all competitions: he scored 12 of his 29 goals between minutes (46 ‘ -60 ‘).
Barcelona comes motivated to this match, after a 4-1 home victory against Deportivo Alavés: Vidal, Suarez, Messi and Griezmann scored the victory goals. The visiting team is one of the most feared in the world and on the attack front it has extreme quality players. Therefore, we believe that the three strikers chosen will be Messi, Suarez and Griezmann. It is possible that in the midfield Aleña, Busquets and Vidal are the players selected by the coach Blaugrana. Keep in mind that one of the shortcomings of this powerful team are duels in the air game. It seems that the visiting coach should not be able to count on Ansu Fati, Arthur and Dembélé, for having been injured.
