Barcelona will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in La Liga when they continue their 2020-21 campaign away to high-flying Cadiz on Saturday night.
Ronald Koeman's side are currently seventh in the table, having picked up just 14 points from their nine matches during a disappointing start to the season, while newly-promoted Cadiz occupy sixth spot.
Match preview
© Reuters
A return of 15 points from 11 matches represents an excellent start to the season for Cadiz, who are currently sixth in the table, one point and one position above Barca heading into Saturday's contest.
The Yellow Submarine, who finished second in the 2019-20 Segunda Division, are playing in La Liga for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign and will be looking to consolidate at this level.
Alvaro Cervera's side have recorded some eye-catching wins this season, notably away to Real Madrid on October 17, but they have only collected one point from the last nine available.
Indeed, the newly-promoted club lost to Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad either side of the November international break before picking up a point away to Elche last weekend.
© Reuters
Barca, meanwhile, will enter Saturday's clash off the back of another impressive Champions League win, recording a 3-0 success away to Ferencvaros on Wednesday to move onto 15 points in Group G.
Koeman's side have been excellent in the European Cup this term, but there is no getting away from the fact that the Catalan giants have been disappointing in Spain's top flight.
Martin Braithwaite, Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho and Lionel Messi were on the scoresheet in a 4-0 win over Osasuna last weekend, but a total of 14 points from nine games has left the club in seventh.
There is still a lot of football to be played this season, but Barca are already nine points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid on the same number of matches, and Diego Simeone's side are currently in wonderful form.
Barca have now won their last three in all competitions, though, scoring 11 times and conceding zero, and Koeman will be hoping that his side can pick up another welcome three points on Saturday night.
Cadiz La Liga form: WDWLLD
Barcelona La Liga form: LLDWLW
Barcelona form (all competitions): WWLWWW
Team News
© Reuters
Cadiz should be able to welcome Alvaro Negredo back into their starting XI this weekend as the experienced striker has recently returned to training following a spell on the sidelines.
Juan Cala and Jose Mari are both still absent, but Augusto Fernandez and Anthony Lozano could both be available following recent issues.
Head coach Cervera is expected to make changes from the side that started against Elche last weekend, with Alberto Perea and Jon Ander Garrido pushing to feature in the first XI, but Salvi Sanchez is expected to shake off a calf issue to start.
As for Barca, Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto and Ansu Fati remain on the sidelines through injury, meaning that the Catalan giants still have issues at the back.
Oscar Mingueza should continue alongside Clement Lenglet in the middle of the defence, with Sergino Dest earning another start at right-back due to Roberto's absence.
Frenkie de Jong was only a substitute against Ferencvaros but will return to the XI, while Messi and Coutinho will also be back in the side, having not been involved in the Champions League during the week.
Pedri could be the player to miss out in the final third with Ousmane Dembele and Griezmann also set to feature as part of a front four.
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Mauro, Fali, Espino; Garrido, Alex, Jonsson; Perea, Negredo, Sanchez
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets; Dembele, Messi, Coutinho; Griezmann
We say: Cadiz 1-3 Barcelona
Cadiz deserve huge praise for their form this season, but Barca will enter the match in a confident mood courtesy of three impressive wins in all competitions. The home side are certainly capable of making it a tricky fixture for the Catalan giants, but we expect the visitors to collect all three points on Saturday night.
Top betting tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barcelona win with a probability of 80.35%. A draw had a probability of 13.9% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 5.77%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 0-2 with a probability of 15.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (12.76%) and 0-1 (12.67%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.42%), while for a Cadiz win it was 1-0 (2.61%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 1.6% likelihood.
