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Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images Barça travel to the Canary Islands looking for revenge to stay top of the table The new leaders of La Liga are back in action this weekend as Barcelona travel to the Canary Islands to face Las Palmas looking to stay top of the table for another round of matches.Barça lost to Las Palmas at Montjuïc in their first meeting of the season in shocking fashion, and now look for a measure of revenge against a side fighting against relegation that would certainly welcome another giant boost by upseting the Catalans.Here’s how we think Hansi Flick will line up his troops for Saturday’s battle.
Defense Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images The trip to Las Palmas begins a stretch of giant games in three competitions over the next four weeks, with both legs of the Champions League Round of 16, the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Atlético Madrid and crucial league games against Real Sociedad and others all on the horizon.Flick will need to be smart with his use of the squad in the next month, but we don’t think he’ll be making monster changes to his side for this one given the full week of rest after the win over Rayo Vallecano. There could still be a few different names, however, and we think two changes will come at the back.
Jules Kounde, if he’s not late again, will likely return at right-back in place of Héctor Fort, and captain Ronald Araujo could replace either Pau Cubarsí or Iñigo Martínez at center-back. We think Iñigo will be on the bench for this one, and Alejandro Balde will retain his left-back spot looking to continue an excellent run of form.Midfield Photo by Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images Barça’s midfield gets a nice boost as Fermín López returns from suspension to add even more depth to that area, but we don’t think the youngster (or Marc Casadó and Dani Olmo for that matter) will get a start in this one.
Instead we think Flick will stick with his favorite current trio of Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Pedri, who will play at the home his childhood club in front of fans for the first time since leaving Las Palmas for Barça five years ago.Attack Photo by Judit Cartiel/Soccrates/Getty Images Despite scoring the game-winning penalty on Monday, Robert Lewandowski was part of an attacking trio that had a poor performance against Rayo, with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha not efficient enough in front of goal to help Barça separate more easily in what turned out to be a very difficult game.The entire front three will need to be better this time, but they have mostly been on fire all season long and will certainly be looking to rebound strongly in this one.
Possible XI: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)How do you think Barcelona should line up against Las Palmas? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!.
