Preview: Valencia vs Barcelona – Prediction, Team News, Line-ups | OneFootball

Barcelona will be keen to return to winning ways when they take on Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium on Saturday night.

The Catalans are currently sitting fourth in the La Liga table, while Ruben Baraja’s side have dropped into the bottom half following their recent poor results.

Match Preview

Valencia have been struggling for form in recent weeks, with the Spanish outfit winless in their previous five league matches.

They have picked up just one point from their last four top-flight games, scoring only two goals while conceding eight in the process.

Los Ches will enter Sunday’s clash on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Getafe last week.

It was a feisty affair at the Estadio Coliseum with the league encounter marked by three red cards.

Gabriel Paulista, Javi Guerra and Domingos Duarte all received their marching orders, but the home side emerged with maximum points after Borja Mayoral’s winner in the 87th minute.

Barcelona slumped to their second successive defeat in all competitions as they lost 3-2 to Royal Antwerp in their final Champions League group match in midweek.

Despite the result, the Catalans finished top of Group H ahead of Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Xavi’s side will now turn their focus to La Liga fixtures, where they suffered a big blow to their title hopes after losing 4-2 to Girona last weekend.

The White and Reds outplayed their opponents and deservedly sealed victory to establish a two-point lead at the top of the La Liga standings.

Artem Dovbyk, Miguel Gutierrez, Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani were all on target for the visitors as they registered their first-ever league win over the Catalans.

Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan were small consolations for Barca as they fell seven points behind the league leaders.

Xavi made a big impact in his first full season at Camp Nou, leading the Blaugrana to the La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana trophies.

The Spanish boss was expected to build on that success but their recent performances suggest they are unlikely to win a major trophy this campaign.

Team News

Valencia’s Gabriel Paulista and Javi Guerra are both suspended due to the red cards they received last week. Jose Gaya will also be missing, with Andre Almeida is doubtful.

Frenkie de Jong is likely to return for Barcelona after illness, but Inigo Martinez, Gavi, Marcos Alonso and Marc-Andre ter Stegen all remain sidelined due to fitness issues.

Valencia vs Barcelona potential line-ups

Valencia: Mamardashvili; Correia, Mosquera, Diakhaby, Gasiorowski; Foulquier, Guillamon, Pepelu, Perez; Lopez, Duro.

Barcelona: Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Cancelo; Pedri, De Jong, Gundogan; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix.

Valencia vs Barcelona prediction

Barcelona will be fully motivated to return to winning ways following their recent disappointing results.

While Saturday’s clash is unlikely to be a one-sided affair, we are backing the Catalans to prevail.

Valencia 1-2 Barcelona.