Barcelona will be looking to secure second position in the La Liga table when they make the trip to Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Sunday evening to take on Getafe.
The Catalan giants are currently second, five points ahead of third-placed Atletico Madrid, while Getafe sit 15th, five points ahead of the relegation zone with two games left to play.
Match preview
© Reuters
Getafe's position in La Liga is not yet secure, mathematically at least, but it would be a huge surprise if they were relegated from this position, sitting five points clear of 18th-placed Mallorca with two games left.
There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough campaign for the Deep Blue Ones, who finished eighth, fifth and eighth in Spain's top flight between 2017 and 2020 before dropping to 15th last term.
Quique Sanchez Flores's side are 15th heading into the penultimate set of matches in Spain's top flight, but they are just six points off the top half of the table, so a lot of movement could happen in their next two games.
Getafe will actually bring a four-game unbeaten run into Sunday's clash with Barcelona, having beaten Celta Vigo, in addition to drawing with Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna, since a 2-1 home reverse to Villarreal in the middle of April.
The capital outfit also beat Barcelona 1-0 when the two teams locked horns in the corresponding match last season, but the Catalan giants ran out 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture at Camp Nou earlier this term.
© Reuters
Barcelona have already secured a position in next season's Champions League and are in a strong spot when it comes to claiming second, sitting five points clear of third-placed Atletico with just two games left.
Xavi's side suffered back-to-back home defeats to Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano last month but have now been victorious in their last three league matches, beating Mallorca and Real Betis before recording a 3-1 win over Celta Vigo on Tuesday night to move onto 72 points.
Barcelona will finish their campaign at home to Villarreal on May 22, and two victories would certainly leave the fans feeling hopeful ahead of next season, with the club planning a busy summer transfer window despite their ongoing financial problems.
Blaugrana have had to watch Real Madrid win La Liga in impressive fashion and also reach the Champions League final, but there have been plenty of positives during Xavi's time at the helm, and they will be looking for their 10th away victory of the season on Sunday evening.
Barcelona actually have the second-best record on their travels in La Liga this term, picking up 34 points from 18 matches, but Getafe have been solid in front of their own supporters, claiming 27 points from 18 games.
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Getafe will be missing Stefan Mitrovic through suspension this weekend, with the central defender being shown a red card during the 1-1 draw with Osasuna on Wednesday night.
Jaime Mata is also still missing through injury, but the home side are otherwise in good shape, and the team is expected to be similar to the one that took to the field for the first whistle last time out.
Damian Suarez is pushing to return as the right-sided wing-back, though, while Mitrovic's absence could open the door for Gaston Alvarez to start in a back three for the home side.
As for Barcelona, Ronald Araujo is a major doubt due to concussion, while Gerard Pique is unlikely to be unavailable due to a thigh problem.
Nico Gonzalez, Sergi Roberto, Sergino Dest and Pedri are also out of the match through injury, while Jordi Alba, Frenkie de Jong and Eric Garcia are unavailable for selection due to suspensions.
As a result, Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet and Oscar Mingueza could all feature at the back, but Barcelona will be boosted by the return of Sergio Busquets in the middle of the park.
A front four of Ousmane Dembele, Memphis Depay, Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took to the field against Celta and that could again be the case in this match.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Dakonam, Alvarez, Cuenca, Olivera; Luis, Arambarri, Maksimovic; Mayoral, Unal
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Alves, Umtiti, Lenglet, Mingueza; Busquets, Gavi; Dembele, Memphis, Torres; Aubameyang
We say: Getafe 1-2 Barcelona
Getafe are more than capable of making this a tricky match for Barcelona, who have big defensive problems ahead of the contest. The Catalan outfit are on a bit of a roll at the moment, though, and we believe that their quality in the final third of the field will allow them to secure all three points on Sunday.
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 57.68%. A draw had a probability of 23.9% and a win for Getafe had a probability of 18.43%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (11.36%) and 1-2 (9.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.27%), while for a Getafe win it was 1-0 (6.64%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.9% likelihood.
Top tip
Matt Law
