Espanyol vs Barcelona: prediction for the La Liga fixture

Espanyol spent the previous season in Segunda and now team is fighting for every single point, but it is clear that Vicente Moreno has much job to do. 

The Budgerigars got off to a confident start in Copa del Rey, team easily advanced past first rounds, beating Solares (3:2), Palencia (2:1) and Ponferradina (2:1, penalties). Unfortunately, team failed to advance past the next round - club was eliminated by Mallorca. 

After 23 rounds of La Liga The White-Blues have seven victories and six draws, delivering 27 points and a 13th spot in the standings. After a success in the match against Valencia (2:1) hosts are on a winless streak - three defeats and a draw against Cadiz (2:2). 

Bare, Calero and de Tomas won't feature in the match. 

Barcelona finished the Champions League group stage unsuccessfully, they failed to advance into the playoffs of the main European club tournament and were relegated to the Europa League instead. 

At the start of Copa del Rey team recorded a victory over Linares (2:1), but in the next round Catalan side was eliminated. A regular time of the match against Athletic finished in a draw, but Basques were more fortunate in the extra time. 

After 22 rounds of La Liga The Blaugrana have 10 victories and eight draws, delivering 38 points and a 4th spot in the standings, a massive improvement, in comparision with team's position a few months ago. In two latest rounds Xavi's men recorded an away victory over Alaves (1:0), after that team also beat Atletico (4:2) at home. 

Wague, Garcia, Depay, Lenglet, Aubameyang, Roberto, Umtiti and Fati are unavailable this weekend.