Barcelona will attempt to get their season back on track on Sunday when they travel south to face Real Betis, knowing third place in La Liga is within their reach.
Xavi Hernandez is under immense pressure as Barca boss now his side have slipped to fourth, albeit with a game in hand over Athletic Club, and were thrashed by Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana final. It could get worse if they are beaten in Seville and Atletico Madrid win against Granada, which would see the Blaugrana drop to fifth.
For an under-pressure coach, Xavi has spoken to the press very honestly about his precarious position, saying he will leave the club if he feels he has lost the support of the players. The Copa del Rey win against Unionistas de Salamanca did little to help the coach; it’s three points against Real Betis that he really needs. It won’t be easy given Betis are currently seventh and only ten points behind.
Here’s all you need to know about Real Betis vs Barca in La Liga this weekend.
Real Betis vs Barcelona H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (all competitions)
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Country |
TV channel/live stream |
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United Kingdom |
Viaplay UK, LaLigaTV, Viaplay Xtra |
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United States |
ESPN Deportes, ESPN+ |
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Canada |
TSN+ |
They may be looking comfortable in seventh at the moment, but Real Betis have plenty of absentees to deal with and their lineup against Barca isn’t an easy one to predict.
They will definitely be without Aitor Ruibal, Ayoze Perez and Hector Bellerin thanks to injury, while Chadi Riad, Youssouf Sabaly and Abde Ezzalzouli are all at the Africa Cup of Nations. As well as that, the likes of Juan Miranda, Guido Rodriguez, Claudio Bravo and Marc Bartra are all fitness doubts. Three of those four are former Barca players.
Real Betis predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Silva; Busto, Pezzella, Papastathopoulos, Abner; Roca, Guardado; Henrique, Isco, Diao; Willian Jose.
While the situation looks particularly bleak for Betis fitness-wise, Barca have their own injury troubles. They are without Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Joao Cancelo, Marcos Alonso, Inigo Martinez, Gavi and Raphinha for this trip.
However, they will welcome Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo back after they served suspensions against Unionistas in the Copa del Rey. Plenty of changes will be made to the team that won that game, with more recognisable names like Robert Lewandowski and Pedri coming into the starting lineup.
Barcelona predicted lineup vs Real Betis (4-3-3): Pena; Roberto, Araujo, Kounde, Balde; De Jong, Gundogan, Pedri; Yamal, Lewandowski, Torres.
This will be a really tough contest for Barca given they know anything other than a win will put even more pressure on Xavi and Betis are never an easy team to beat. Barca do have a good recent record against Betis though.
The game should be very tight and it might not be packed with goals, but given the quality Barca will have on the pitch and the players Betis are missing, the away side have to be the favourites.
Prediction: Real Betis 1-2 Barcelona
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