Sports Mole previews Sunday’s La Liga clash between Levante and Barcelona, including predictions, team news and possible line-ups.
Barcelona will look to secure seven straight La Liga wins when they resume their domestic campaign in a struggling country Levant Sunday night side.
The Catalan side are currently second in the table, 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid, while Levante sit in 19th position, six points behind 17th-place safety with eight games to play.
Match Preview
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Levante are currently playing their fifth consecutive season at this level of football, having left the top flight for just one campaign since 2010, so it would be a surprise if the team were relegated this season.
The Frogs are currently fighting for their lives in the bottom three, sitting 19th, level on points with 20th-placed Alaves and six points behind 17th-placed Cadiz over the same number of matches (30).
Levante will enter this weekend’s game after a huge 2-0 victory over Villarreal, with Jose Luis Morales scoring a brace during the contest at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.
Alessio LisciThe squad still have a lot of work to do to escape the relegation zone, and they still have a few touchdown games before the end of the season, facing Sevilla, Real Sociedad and Real Madrid in the coming weeks.
Levante have the third-worst home record in La Liga this season, picking up just 16 points from their 15 appearances in front of their own fans, but they held Barcelona to a 3-3 draw in the corresponding game between the two sides. last term.
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Barcelona, meanwhile, will enter the game after a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night, with Ferran Torres on the score sheet in the 66th minute after Ansgar Knauff had made the breakthrough.
The Catalan side will relish their chances of finishing the job at Camp Nou next week, having won each of their last six La Liga games, including successes against Real Madrid and Sevilla in their last two.
Barcelona are effectively unbeaten in the Spanish top flight since the start of December, and the excellent form has seen them rise to second in the table, level on points (57) with third-placed Atletico Madrid. and Sevilla, fourth, with a game in hand on both.
xavierThe team are still 12 points behind league leaders Real Madrid and it’s very hard to imagine Los Blancos losing that many points by the end of the campaign, so second place is the realistic goal for the club. this term.
Blaugrana beat Levante 3-0 in the reverse game between the two sides in September, as they have the second-best away record in La Liga this season. That said, Spain‘s 26-time champions have dropped points in nine of their 15 league appearances on their trips in 2021-22.
Form of Levante in La Liga:
Barcelona La Liga form:
Form of Barcelona (all competitions):
Team News
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Levante have a long injury list at the moment, with Shkodran Mustafi, Martin Caceres, Roberto Soldado, Dani Gomez, Oscar Duarte, Jorge de Frutos and Carlos Clerc all on the sidelines.
Caceres’ injury, which occurred in the win over Villarreal, will open the door to Ruben Vezo feature in the middle of a back three, but the rest of the team could be unchanged.
Indeed, Morales scored a brace against the Yellow Submarine and should again be joined by Roger Martin in a front two, while Nemanja Radoja, Pepelu and Gonzalo Melero should feature in central midfield.
As for Barcelona, Memphis Depay, Ansu Fati, Sergino Dest and Serge Roberto will again be unavailable for selection due to injury.
Meanwhile, Gerard pricks picked up a groin problem against Frankfurt and is set to miss which means Dani Alves could return to the squad at right-back, with Ronald Araujo moving towards the middle.
Frankie de Jong should also replace Gavi in the middle of the park, while Ousmane Dembele is likely to receive the green light Adama Traore as part of a three front.
Xavi will have his eye on next week’s second leg with Frankfurt, but should resist the temptation to mix up his squad, so the likes of Sergio Busquets, Jordi AlbaFerran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should again be in the starting camp.
Levante’s possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Miramon, Rober, Postigo, Vezo, Franquesa; Melero, Pepelu, Radoja; Morales, Martin
Possible starting formation in Barcelona:
Ter Stegen; Alves, Araujo, E Garcia, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, F de Jong; Dembele, Aubameyang, Ferran
We say: Levante 0-2 Barcelona
Barcelona are on a roll right now in La Liga, and we’re struggling to back Levante to stop them on Sunday night. The Catalan side have been so impressive domestically in recent weeks and should have too much quality for their relegation-threatened opponents in this game.
Trick
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com predict an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and for more of their proven football tips.Away win: data
