The best stats ahead of Sunday's derbi barceloní | OneFootball

La Liga leaders Barcelona will make the short trip to face local rivals Espanyol at Cornella de Llobregat on Sunday afternoon.

In surprising news, Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba have both been omitted from Ernesto Valverde’s starting line-up, while the Espanyol XI looks like this.

This will be the fourth meeting between the two Catalunya clubs this season and a win or a draw for Barça will see them stretch their unbeaten start to the season to a club-record 22 games.

And the visitors’ chances of avoiding defeat look pretty good, on paper at least. Espanyol are without a win in their last 17 La Liga meetings against the Blaugrana and are winless in their last 10 home league matches against any opposition, with no goals scored in their last five.

But then again, Los Periquitos have never in history gone 18 games without a win against Barcelona in La Liga, so is their luck in this fixture about to change?

If the hosts are going to pull off a surprise result, they’re probably going to have to make their chances count. Espanyol have registered the second-fewest number of shots on target (70) in Spain’s top flight this season, while Barcelona have racked up the most (159).

And they’d better watch out for Messi coming off the bench, too. The Argentine magician has bagged three hat-tricks against Espanyol during his career and is currently on a run of 24 goals in his last 24 La Liga appearances – 17 of which have come in the second half of games.

Luis Suárez loves the derbi barceloní as well. The Uruguayan hit-man has been directly involved in 11 goals in his seven La Liga games against Espanyol – seven goals and four assists.

However, Espanyol also have a man in red hot form at the moment. Gerard Moreno has scored five of his side’s last six goals at home in La Liga. Can he make it six in this one?

The omens are not good for Blanquiazules’ coach Quique Sánchez Flores, though. The former Valencia and Atlético boss has won just three of his 12 managerial meetings with Barcelona (D2 L7).

Speaking ahead of the match, Barça boss Ernesto Valverde insisted he is not worried about the cauldron atmosphere the home supporters are likely to create at RCDE Stadium.

“A lot of noise is made about a lot of things, and then the fans are normal,” Valverde told reporters.

“They said similar things about Atlético and Real Madrid, grounds where very hostile atmospheres were expected, the same as the cup first leg against Espanyol.

“But beyond the tension of the rivalry, it was a normal game and I’m expecting the same [on Sunday].

“The game will be tough because of our opponents and because it’s derby, not because of anything else.

“These games are special and you also play a little bit with the heart as well.”

Sánchez Flores, meanwhile, hopes there will be no off-field problems during a match which the authorities have declared as high risk.

“What interests me is that the fans and the team are united in trying to get the win,” he said.

“I hope there’s a fantastic atmosphere and that it’s a calm day, normal.”