Title hopefuls Barcelona will be bidding to make it four straight La Liga victories when they make the trip to struggling Cadiz on Saturday evening.
The visitors will enter the match off the back of a 5-1 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Cadiz suffered a 3-0 defeat to Celta Vigo in the league last time out.
Match preview
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Cadiz secured a return to La Liga by finishing second in the Segunda Division in 2019-20, and they finished 12th in the top flight in 2020-21 before claiming 17th last term, which secured another season at this level.
The Yellow Submarine were only one point ahead of 18th-place Granada last season, though, and the early indications are that the club face a serious battle to retain their status as a top-flight club for 2023-24.
Cadiz are currently rock bottom of the table on zero points, losing their opening two games against Real Sociedad and Osasuna before conceding four at home to Athletic Bilbao at the end of August.
The Pirates will enter this game off the back of a 3-0 defeat at Celta on September 2, and a clash against Barcelona is not quite what they would have had in mind at this stage, with the team desperate to give their supporters something to cheer amid a tough start.
Sergio Gonzalez's side actually beat Barcelona 1-0 at Camp Nou last term, while they are unbeaten in their last four La Liga matches with the Catalan side, including a goalless draw in the corresponding game last season.
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Barcelona are flying at the moment, though, and they will enter this match off the back of a 5-1 victory over Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat trick at Camp Nou.
The Catalan outfit opened their La Liga campaign with a goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano but have won their last three in the league, beating Real Sociedad 4-1, Real Valladolid 4-0 and Sevilla 3-0, which has left them second in the table behind Real Madrid on 10 points.
Barcelona found it difficult last term, but they look ready to compete for major trophies this season, and it will be fascinating to see how Xavi's side perform against Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week.
Lewandowski's arrival has given the team a genuine world-class performer at centre-forward, and the Poland international has now scored eight goals in his last four appearances for the club.
Barcelona will know that their margin for error in La Liga is small due to the quality of Real Madrid, and while Cadiz's recent record against them is impressive, it would be a shock if Blaugrana dropped points in this game, with the team clicking into gear since the stalemate with Rayo almost one month ago.
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Team News
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Cadiz will again be missing Jon Ander Garrido this weekend due to a knee problem, while Ruben Alcaraz remains a doubt, but the home side are otherwise in good shape in terms of fitness.
Head coach Sergio is expected to make changes from the side that lost by three goals at Celta, with Lucas Perez, Ruben Sobrino and Alex potentially coming into the side.
Anthony Lozano and Brian Ocampo could be among the players to drop out, but there will not be wholesale alterations despite the disappointing result and performance last time out.
As for Barcelona, Sergi Roberto is unavailable due to the slight muscular issue he suffered against Plzen, although Xavi has insisted that the problem is not serious.
The manager will have one eye on the clash with Bayern next week, but he is expected to recall those who dropped out of the side against Plzen, with Gavi, Raphinha, Ronald Araujo, Alejandro Balde, Eric Garcia and Sergio Busquets all in line to start.
Xavi will be tempted to rest Lewandowski and Dembele ahead of the Bayern clash, but the pair should ultimately start, while Jules Kounde could keep his spot at centre-back, with Araujo potentially lining up on the right.
Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso were not involved against Plzen following their recent arrivals, but the pair are in the squad for this match.
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Zaldua, Hernandez, Chust, Espino; Alarcon, Alex, Blanco; Sobrino, Perez, Alejo
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Araujo, Kounde, E Garcia, Balde; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Raphinha
We say: Cadiz 0-3 Barcelona
Cadiz can take confidence from their recent record against Barcelona, but it is very, very difficult to back the home side to get something out of this match. Xavi's team are full of it at the moment, and we are expecting the visitors to be far too strong for their opponents this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
