How Barcelona could line up against Espanyol

Barcelona will endeavour to move to within one point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when they welcome relegation candidates Espanyol to Camp Nou on Wednesday evening.

Barca enjoyed an impressive 4-1 victory over Champions League hopefuls Villarreal on Sunday evening, but the Catalan giants remain four points behind Real Madrid as the season draws to a close.

Madrid do not take to the pitch until Friday, though, so a win for Barca here will increase the pressure on the league leaders while simultaneously confirming Espanyol's relegation from the top flight.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Barcelona could line up for the visit of Espanyol.

Out: Ousmane Dembele (hamstring), Frenkie de Jong (calf) Doubtful: Samuel Umtiti (knee), Junior Firpo (hip)

> Click here for Barcelona's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Given the manner of Barcelona's victory over a high-flying Villarreal side on Sunday evening, Quique Setien may be reluctant to make any changes to his side at all for the showdown with bottom-of-the-table Espanyol.

Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong are confirmed absentees for the hosts, while Samuel Umtiti and Junior Firpo are not expected to feature either.

Should Setien name an unchanged XI from the weekend victory over Villarreal, Clement Lenglet and Gerard Pique will form a centre-back pairing once again in Umtiti's absence.

Sergi Roberto returned to the starting lineup as part of a midfield three with Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal last time out, and the trio are expected to feature from the first whistle against Espanyol.

Ivan Rakitic is an option for Setien should he wish to shuffle the pack, though, while Arthur has not played a single minute for Barca since his transfer to Juventus for next season was confirmed at the end of June.

Speculation has intensified surrounding the future of Antoine Griezmann recently, but the Frenchman repaid his manager's faith in him as he scored a delightful chip against Villarreal, and Griezmann is likely to start up top with Luis Suarez again in midweek.

Another player who has seen question marks appear over his future is none other than Lionel Messi, who bagged two assists at the weekend, but Barca president Josep Bartomeu is confident that the talisman will remain at Camp Nou and Messi is a shoo-in to feature from the first whistle against Espanyol.