Match Preview : Barca VS Almería

It’s midweek league football for Barca this evening. Live from the Estadi Olympic, its our last league game before the Christmas break. At 7pm local time, its Barca Vs Almería. 

Coming off  back of a disappointing week, the team will be looking to end the year on a decent note at home tonight. It’s not going to stairghtforward, mainly because we never like to do things simply. But yet again, its a huge game for us. Seems like we’re saying that most weeks now. 

Overview of the game:

We have got a few absentees. Sadly Pedri is unfit for the game as he is suffering from a muscle overload. So due to his history of injuries, the club are being very cautious and he’s ruled out. It’s a blow. And its not nice to see Pedri out again with discomfort. Something has to be done about it. Either we’ve pushed him too much and haven’t handled his return as carefully as we should. Or there needs to be a specific plan designed for him because we need him desperately. He’s just too special to be away from the pitch.

Frenkie is also out due to suspension. He picked up his 5th yellow card of the season the other day so he wont be available this evening. Add that to the absence of Gavi and that’s pretty much our strongest midfield all out. Only Gundogan and Romeu remain as the 2 first team players in the team. So this could give a chance for Casado and Fermin Lopez. Which is something id love to see. Especially Casado. I’ve been championing his promotion to the first team for a while because he’s a really good defensive midfielder. And considering that’s the position we’re seriously lacking this season, why not give it a try. 

Predicted lineup:

When it comes to my prediction for the lineup, like I’ve mentioned above, its going to be interesting to see how  Xavi decides to lineup. It’s another big game for us, but with so many key players out again. That gives us even more problems to solve. One thing for me that has to change is our attack. It’s infuriating how many chances we create. How many clear cut chances we create in every game. And how wasteful we are. It has to change. Which is why, i know it probably wont be done, but id love to see Lewandowski benched for a game. And replace him with Ferran, or my option would be Marc Guiu. I know he’s young, but he’s already proven that it doesn’t phase him. So lets use him. I would keep the defence the same as our last game, but i would replace Kounde for Christensen. 

My starting 11:

Pena

Cancelo- Araujo- Christensen- Balde

Fermin- Casado- Gundogan

Yamal- Guiu- Felix

Ryan Edwards