Comments and predictions for Espanyol vs Barcelona: Defeat the neighbors
The match between Espanyol vs Barcelona in La Liga takes place at 2:30 a.m. on May 16. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest Espanyol vs Barcelona team information
Espanyol continue to be without defender Brian Olivan due to a calf injury since late March.
Midfielder Pol Lozano missed the defeat to Leganes with a thigh injury but has now returned to training and could start against Barcelona.
Right-back Omar El Hilali is ready to return after serving a one-match suspension for picking up a number of yellow cards.
Javi Puado remains Espanyol's biggest hope in attack, with 11 goals and 3 assists in 32 La Liga games this season.
On Barcelona's side, Marc Bernal is still recovering from a long-term knee injury.
Jules Kounde and Pablo Torre are likely to continue to be absent due to not recovering from hamstring and knee injuries.
Inigo Martinez is suspended for picking up a number of yellow cards, giving Ronald Araujo or Andreas Christensen a chance to start, with Christensen likely to be selected after his impressive display as a substitute in El Clasico.
Alejandro Balde is pushing for a starting spot after playing more than 30 minutes against Real Madrid. However, Barcelona may not risk Robert Lewandowski from the start as he is still recovering from a hamstring injury.
Latest predicted lineup for Espanyol vs Barcelona
Espanyol:
Garcia; El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero; Exposito, Gonzalez, Lozano; Jofre, Puado, Roberto
Barcelona:
Szczesny; Garcia, Christensen, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres
Latest football commentary Espanyol vs Barcelona
Espanyol are currently 14th in the standings with 10 wins, 9 draws and 16 losses after 35 rounds in La Liga this season.
Los Periquitos head into Thursday's derby in poor form, having picked up just one point from their last four games since a 1-0 win over Getafe on April 18.
They drew 1-1 with Valencia before losing three consecutive games against Villarreal, Real Betis and Leganes.
Manolo Gonzalez's side struggled to recover from a three-goal deficit against Leganes on Saturday, but despite Leandro Cabrera and Pere Milla cutting the deficit, they were still forced to accept a 3-2 defeat as they did not have enough time to turn the game around.
Despite recent disappointing results, Espanyol are still in a strong position in the relegation battle, five points clear of the relegation zone, with three games remaining against Barcelona, Osasuna and Las Palmas.
After the defeat at Butarque, Los Periquitos are looking forward to returning to the RCDE, where they have lost just one of their last 11 home games in La Liga (W4 D6). However, that only defeat came in their most recent outing against Betis.
Espanyol will hope home advantage will help them claim their first win over Barcelona in La Liga since a 2-1 away win in February 2009.
Barcelona are closing in on the La Liga title after an emotional 4-3 win over Real Madrid, just days after their Champions League semi-final defeat to Inter Milan.
Despite falling two goals behind after an early Kylian Mbappe brace, Barcelona staged a stunning comeback thanks to goals from Eric Garcia and Lamine Yamal, before Raphinha struck twice to give the hosts a 4-2 lead in the first half.
Mbappe completed a second-half hat-trick to reduce the deficit, and Fermin Lopez's goal was later ruled out by VAR, leaving the final score at 4-3. The result leaves Barcelona just one step away from a 28th La Liga title, having already won the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup in Hansi Flick's first season in charge.
With a seven-point gap over Real Madrid, Barca could win the title on Wednesday if Real stumble against Mallorca. If Real win, the Blaugrana will need to beat Espanyol to officially win the title in round 36.
In addition to winning the trophy, Barcelona also aims to reach the 100-goal mark in La Liga, as they have scored 95 goals after 35 rounds.
The Catalans are confident of taking all three points, having won 14 of their last 15 La Liga games and five consecutive away games.
Barca are also unbeaten in their last 27 La Liga derbies against Espanyol (W20 D7), including the first leg in November, a 3-1 win – Dani Olmo scored twice and Raphinha scored within the opening 31 minutes.
Latest Espanyol vs Barcelona score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Espanyol vs Barcelonaas follows:
- Sportsmole:Espanyol 1-3 Barcelona
- WhoScore:Espanyol 0-2 Barcelona
- Our newspaper predicts:Espanyol 1-3 Barcelona
When and where to watch Espanyol vs Barcelona live?
To watch the live match between Espanyol vs Barcelona in La Liga taking place at 2:30 a.m. on May 16, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.