Preview: Barcelona vs. Almeria

Last season's La Liga title race is appearing to be somewhat of an anomaly. Atletico Madrid impressively overcame the Barcelona and Real Madrid stranglehold during 2013-14, but three has become two once again this time around.

On Wednesday night, leaders Barca play host to Almeria with both sides in need of a victory, albeit for very different reasons.

Barcelona

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Having witnessed rivals Real Madrid hit nine goals past Granada earlier in the day, Sunday's hard-fought 1-0 victory away at Celta Vigo is regarded to be one of Barca's most important wins of the season to date.

It restored the Catalan outfit's four-point margin at the top of La Liga and with just nine matches left to play, Luis Enrique's men are big favourites to go on and win a seventh title in 11 campaigns.

It's their form at the Camp Nou that has been particularly impressive, in spite of shock defeats at the hands of Enrique's former club Vigo and Malaga, who headed back to Andalusia with a shock 1-0 triumph to show for their efforts. It was a result that ended the home side's 11-game winning streak.

Those aside, Barca have been near perfect in front of their own faithful, winning on 12 occasions. Their last outing at the Camp Nou was a particularly important and potentially defining one as a strike from summer signing Luis Suarez secured a 2-1 win over Real.

Since the aforementioned defeat to Malaga, Barca have embarked on another victory sequence, winning their last five and scoring 14 goals in the process, six of which have come from the boot of Lionel Messi.

Three points against Almeria is a must, particularly when considering the fixtures that follow. Champions League hopefuls Sevilla and Valencia are up next, before a Catalan derby with Espanyol.

Recent La Liga form: WWWWWW Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWW

Almeria

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A 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Levante at the weekend proved too much for the Almeria board, who shortly afterwards announced that they had parted company with head coach Juan Ignacio Martinez.

Fifty-year-old Martinez, who only took charge of the club back in December following the departure of Francisco, had overseen a run of seven matches without a victory.

Such form has plunged Almeria's La Liga status into severe doubt as they occupy the final relegation spot, having amassed 25 points from their 29 outings to date.

The man charged with reviving their fortunes is Miguel Rivera, who was a coach under Martinez's setup.

While a trip to the Camp Nou is not an ideal start to his tenure, Rivera can at least take some solace from the fact that of his side's six wins this season, five have come on the road.

Recent form: LDLDLL

Team News

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Having suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with Spain, Barca left-back Jordi Alba is expected to sit out this encounter, with a potential return against Sevilla at the weekend pencilled in.

His absence is likely to see Adriano continue to deputise, but it is who will be playing alongside him at centre-back that is Enrique's biggest selection conundrum.

Suspension ruled Javier Mascherano out of the win in Vigo, but the Argentine is available again. However, to fit him in, either Gerard Pique or Jeremy Mathieu, who has scored in his last two outings, will have to drop out.

Elsewhere, Croatian playmaker Ivan Rakitic will be hoping for a recall at the expense of Rafinha, while there may also be a place for veteran midfielder Xavi.

The front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar, who have scored 86 goals between them in all competitions this season, are likely to once again lead the attack, which means another spell on the bench for Pedro.

As for the visitors, they have a doubt over the availability of midfielder Verza as a result of the muscular injury that he suffered in the loss to Levante.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Bravo; Adriano, Pique, Mathieu, Alves; Xavi, Busquets, Rakitic; Neymar, Suarez, Messi

Almeria possible starting lineup: Julian; Dubarbier, Dos Santos, Navarro, Trujillo; Soriano, Corona; Azeez, Silva, Bifouma; Hemed

Head To Head

When the two sides met at the Juegos Mediterraneos earlier in the campaign, a shock appeared to be on the cards when Thievy Bifouma gave the hosts a first-half lead.

Late goals, though, from Neymar and Alba spared Barca's blushes to secure a 2-1 win, which moved them back to the top of the table.

The Catalans have won the last seven matches between the two sides, scoring 27 goals during that time. In contrast, Almeria have found the net on just three occasions.

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We say: Barcelona 4-0 Almeria

Teams often go the Camp Nou and sit back in the mindset of damage limitation. Almeria will be no different and it will only be a matter of time until Barca make the breakthrough. If they do that early, it should be a high-scoring win.