Barcelona enters Saturday's match against city rival Espanyol in first place in La Liga with a 12-3-3 record and 39 points, but a challenge is expected from a team that has already hit the panic button. The city's second-best team is in last place in the league with just 10 points from 18 games with a 2-4-12 record. The last time Espanyol won a league match was on October 27, but the team is just five points back from safety with survival well in reach, knowing that a result here could be the turning point of the season.
Here's how you can watch the match and what to know:
Barcelona vs. Espanyol
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 4
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: RCDE Stadium
- TV channel: beIN Sports
- Streaming: fuboTV (Try for free)
Storylines
Barcelona: Winners of three of their last five, the Catalan giants have scored a league-high 47 goals, 14 more than any other team. This is a team that usually scores in every game, and you can expect at least a couple goals here. As long as the shaky defense limits mistakes, Barca should be well on its way to three points.
Espanyol: The horrible run of form has to end somewhere, but will it be here? Highly unlikely, but they would gladly take a point from this game and climb closer to possibly surviving. The issue here has been on both ends. No team has scored as little as Espanyol's 12 goals, and no team has conceded as many as 34 goals.
Barcelona vs. Espanyol prediction
Ernesto Valverde's team struggles early but turns it around for three points on the road with a dominant second half in which Lionel Messi scores twice.
Pick: Barcelona 3, Espanyol 1
