MX23RW : Friday, March 29 10:06:06| >> :120:11675:11675:
[monks data]
Barcelona logo
La Liga | Gameweek 1
Feb 24, 2021 at 6pm UK
Camp Nou
Elche

Barcelona
3 - 0
Elche

Messi (48', 69'), Alba (73')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Preview: Barcelona vs. Elche - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's La Liga clash between Barcelona and Elche, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Following a pair of truly disheartening results in Europe and La Liga, Barcelona will be desperate to return to winning ways against a lowly Elche team in Wednesday's top-flight battle.

The hosts could only take a point from their clash with Cadiz at the weekend, whereas Elche claimed a long-awaited victory against fellow strugglers Eibar.


Match preview

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman pictured in February 2021© Reuters

Ronald Koeman claimed that Barcelona's La Liga stalemate with Cadiz was more disappointing than their humbling at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, and it is easy to see where the Dutchman is coming from.

Just days after Kylian Mbappe made Camp Nou his playground, Barcelona would have been expected to dust themselves down and march to victory over Cadiz - who beat them 2-1 earlier in the season - but the newly-promoted side dug deep and walked away with a share of the spoils in Catalonia.

It was a tale of two spot kicks as Lionel Messi's penalty - his 16th top-flight goal of the season on his record-breaking 506th La Liga appearance - was cancelled out by Alex Fernandez's successful conversion from 12 yards in the dying embers of the match, and Barcelona have now won just one of their last four matches in all competitions.

With Atletico Madrid starting to falter, third-placed Barca have missed a magnificent opportunity to heap the pressure on the league leaders - who lost to Levante at the weekend - and eight points separate Koeman's side from the capital outfit after 23 matches, with second-placed Real Madrid sandwiched in between the two sides.

Sunday's stalemate with Cadiz ended a seven-game winning run for Barcelona in the top flight, although it did extend their unbeaten streak in La Liga to 13 matches since December's defeat to the newly-promoted team, and La Blaugrana have a point to prove against Elche before they face off against Sevilla at the weekend.

Elche's Fidel celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates against Real Madrid on December 30, 2020© Reuters

In contrast, Elche will head to Catalonia with a sense of new-found confidence after finally managing to end their 16-game winless run in the top flight against fellow relegation candidates Eibar at the weekend.

A rare goal from centre-back Dani Calvo saw Fran Escriba's men take maximum points from a league fixture for the first time since October 23 - a classic case of the new manager bounce following the 55-year-old's return to the Franjiverdes hotseat.

Escriba knows exactly what it takes to succeed at Elche having been in control of the reins for three years between 2012 and 2015, and having managed to end his side's barren spell in his first game back, the former Villarreal and Celta Vigo manager has every right to feel optimistic about salvaging Elche's top-flight status for a second season.

This week's visitors to Camp Nou currently occupy 18th spot in the table - level on points with their recent victims Eibar - and while Los Franjiverdes have two games in hand over the faltering teams around them, they would do extremely well to make one of them count in Catalonia.

Elche head into the fixture having not won away from home in eight attempts since October 18, and they have not beaten Barcelona since the 1974-75 campaign, while La Blaugrana have not conceded a goal to the strugglers since 1978 - a run of 11 consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.

Barcelona La Liga form: WWWWWD
Barcelona form (all competitions): WWLWLD

Elche La Liga form: DLLDLW


Team News

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on February 13, 2021© Reuters

Koeman continues to make do without a quartet of absentees in Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Ronald Araujo and Sergi Roberto, with none of them expected to return to action for a while.

However, with the weekend's trip to Sevilla - who are on their trail - to take into account, it would be a surprise not to see Koeman freshen things up after an underwhelming week.

Oscar Mingueza and Junior Firpo are options for change in the full-back positions, while Miralem Pjanic, Riqui Puig and Trincao will all hope to earn starts this week too.

Elche coach Escriba will immediately be forced into a midfield change as Ivan Marcone is suspended for an accumulation of bookings, so Omenuke Mfulu could deputise.

Diego Gonzalez, Fidel and Jony Alamo are all expected to sit this one out for the visitors, who could also hand Helibelton Palacios his debut at right-back.

Tottenham Hotspur loanee Paulo Gazzaniga is still waiting for his first appearance for the club, but it is unlikely to come at Camp Nou.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Pique, Umtiti, Firpo; Pjanic, De Jong, Pedri; Trincao, Messi, Griezmann

Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Barragan, Verdu, Calvo, Mojica; Rigoni, Mfulu, Guti, Milla; Carillo, Boye


SM words green background

We say: Barcelona 2-0 Elche

Barcelona's record in this fixture speaks for itself, and even though Koeman's side have not enjoyed a pleasant week, they have a prime opportunity to right the wrongs of the weekend against one of the division's relegation candidates. Elche got off to a lightning-fast start under Escriba but we cannot see that continuing here - this should be a routine win for the Blaugrana.


ID:436249: cacheID:436249:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:10805:

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 76.77%. A draw had a probability of 14% and a win for Elche had a probability of 9.18%.

The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.09%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (9.29%) and 2-1 (8.8%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.38%), while for a Elche win it was 1-2 (2.78%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Barcelona would win this match.


Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong celebrates scoring against Elche in La Liga on January 24, 2021
Read Next:
Combined XI: Barcelona vs. PSG
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid29226164204472
2Barcelona29197360342664
3GironaGirona29195559342562
4Athletic Bilbao29168550262456
5Atletico MadridAtletico29174854342055
6Real Sociedad291210742311146
7Real BetisBetis29101273433142
8Valencia28117103232040
9Villarreal29108114751-438
10Getafe2991193742-538
11Las PalmasLas Palmas29107122932-337
12Osasuna29106133343-1036
13AlavesAlaves2988132635-932
14Mallorca29612112535-1030
15Rayo Vallecano29611122538-1329
16Sevilla29610133644-828
17Celta Vigo2969143244-1227
18CadizCadiz29313132040-2022
19Granada2828183058-2814
20Almeria29110182857-2913


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!