Barcelona look to bounce back from their first league defeat of the season and maintain their narrow lead at the top of the La Liga table as the leaders welcome a solid Deportivo Alavés side to Camp Nou.
Here’s how we think Hansi Flick will line up his troops for Saturday’s battle:
Defense
The injuries continue to mount after El Clásico and there are two huge games next week against Aston Villa and Atlético Madrid to think about, so it’s pretty much impossible to figure out Flick’s lineup for this one. This
is our best guess (and maybe some wishful thinking), but we’ll likely be very wrong.
There’s been talk of giving a full debut to young midfielder Brian Fariñas, who played a good portion of preseason at right-back and could be picked as Xavi Espart’s replacement since Jules Kounde is still not ready to return from an ankle injury.
Alejandro Balde is expected to remain at left-back after a strong display in El Clásico to give João Cancelo a rest ahead of next week, but Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín must start as the only healthy center-backs in the squad for this one.
Midfield
This will be Flick’s only chance to rest his best players after a marathon of matches and with two other crucial games ahead, so we think the coach will take the chance to rotate in midfield and start all three of Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi in this one to give Rodri, Pedri and Fermín López a breather.
Attack
We are also expecting changes up front to save Lamine Yamal and Raphinha’s legs for Tuesday, so we think Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus will start alongside Anthony Gordon in the attacking trio.
Possible XI: Joan; Fariñas, Cubarsí, Martín, Balde; Gavi, Bernal, De Jong; Adeyemi, Jesus, Gordon (4-3-3)
How do you think Barcelona should line up against Alavés? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!
