La Liga leaders Barcelona will hit the road to square up against relegation-threatened Elche in search of their 23rd win in the league.
Elche will host Barcelona as league football in Spain resumes after the international break. League leaders Barcelona will look to extend their three-match winning streak, whereas hosts Elche will hope to register their 3rd win of the ongoing season.
The hosts have suffered all season long. They are placed at the bottom of the league table with 13 points out of their 26 matches. They have suffered defeats in 17 matches and have only won two league fixtures all season long.
As far as their last five fixtures are concerned, Elche have won one, drawn one and lost the remaining three. While their track record does not look good, eight out of their 13 points have come in 2023. Both their wins have come in the ongoing calendar year. And, they will be hoping for a miracle against the Catalan giants.
The hosts are heading into this fixture on the back of a 2-0 loss at the hands of Real Sociedad. They will be hopeful of a better outing this time around. However, it won’t be easy to square up against Xavi’s men who have been in red-hot form of late.
The visitors sit at the top of the table with 68 points out of their 26 fixtures. They have a 12-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid. While Barcelona do have a significant lead at the top, they are expected to still go all out for a win against Elche.
The Catalan giants have won four out of their last five league fixtures. They are on a three-match winning streak and will look to make it four in a row. Their last outing in the league was a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in El Clasico.
The win helped them complete a three-peat over their arch-rivals Madrid. The win over Los Blancos has almost guaranteed them the title. However, they are still expected to go all out for a win until they seal the title.
In the reverse fixture between the two teams, the Catalan giants came out on top with a 3-0 win. Barcelona have the best defensive record in the league having conceded only nine goals all season long. And, it is going to be a very tough assignment for the home team. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at this fixture and tries to predict the tactics the teams could deploy.
Team News & Tactics
Elche
Pablo Machin has a few injuries to worry about as he prepares to square up against the league leaders. Lisandro Magallan, Enzo Roco, Alex Collado and John Donald are all out injured. And, Pape Cheikh and Lucas Boye are suspended from this fixture. Elche do have a major boost as their leading goalscorer in the league this season (6) Pere Milla is available for this fixture.
🔙 🟢⚪️ 🆚 🔵🔴#ElcheBarça || #ECF100 💯 pic.twitter.com/3gFchwnecU
— Elche Club de Fútbol🌴💯🥇 (@elchecf) March 30, 2023
Machin is expected to go ahead with the 3-4-3 formation which will act like the 5-3-2 for the majority of the match given the amount of ball possession the visitors are expected to have. Edgar Badia will start in goal while Helibelton Palacios, Gonzalo Verdu and Diego Gonzalez will be the back three.
Carlos Clerc and Tete Morente will play the role of wing-backs as they will start in the midfield four alongside Gerard Gumbau and Omar Mascarell. Ezequiel Ponce and Fidel Chaves will start out wide as the wingers. Meanwhile, Pere Milla will be leading the attack for the home team.
Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Badia; Palacios, Verdu, Gonzalez; Morente, Mascarell, Gumbau, Clerc; Ponce, Milla, Fidel
Barcelona
The visitors will be without the services of Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, who are yet to recover from their respective injuries. Even Andreas Christensen will miss this fixture.
Ronald Araujo, who missed training ahead of the Elche fixture, has been given the green light to be a part of the squad but is unlikely to start. Raphinha is out due to suspension. Apart from the above-mentioned names everyone else is expected to be a part of the squad.
🚨 The squad list for #ElcheBarça pic.twitter.com/D2RZ5dwZU5
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 31, 2023
Xavi will look to start with the 4-3-3 formation, where Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be in goal. Jules Kounde who has featured as a right-back in the majority of the fixtures might start as the centre-back alongside Marcos Alonso. Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba could be the full-backs for this fixture.
Sergio Busquets will once again start as the holding midfielder, while Franck Kessie and Gavi will be in his support. With Raphinha out, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati are expected to feature alongside marksman Robert Lewandowski as the front three.
Possible Lineup (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, Alonso, Alba; Kessie, Busquets, Gavi; Ferran Torres, Lewandowski, Fati
Key Stats
- Barcelona are the second-highest-scoring team in the league with 49 goals to their name.
- Elche have the worst defensive record in the league having conceded 51 goals.
- Barcelona have the best defensive record in the league. They have conceded just 9 goals all season long.
- Elche have won just two matches in the entire season. Every other team in the division have won more than five matches.
- Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski has 20 goal contributions in the league.
Player to Watch
Ansu Fati
Fati has been the talk of the town of late. The 20-year-old Barcelona wonderkid hasn’t had much game time of late and his father has expressed his disappointment publicly. But, the Spain international now has a chance to prove his worth as he is expected to start against Elche.
Fati has racked up just over 1300 minutes in his 38 outings this season. Despite the limited game time, he has nine goal involvements. And, he will look to add to it when he takes the field on Saturday.
Prediction
Elche 0-4 Barcelona
Elche have the worst track record in the league, having lost 17 matches in the season. They are bottom of the league and are set to host the league leaders. While they will hope to put up a fight against Barcelona, the difference in quality is quite clear when we look at the numbers.
The Catalan giants, on the other hand, are in red-hot form as they look for their 23rd win. While they will be missing quite a few big names, Xavi’s men still have enough squad depth to get one better over Pablo Machin’s men. The Hard Tackle predicts a 4-0 win for the visitors.
