LaLiga Santander leaders Barcelona will face bottom-placed Elche on Saturday night at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.
The Blaugrana currently sit 12 points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid after grabbing a 2-1 comeback Clasico victory at the Spotify Camp Nou just before the international break.
As for Elche, they decided to fire coach Pablo Machin during the break and replaced him with Sebastian Beccacece after losing 2-0 away at Real Sociedad. Having grabbed just 13 points from 26 games, Elche are unlikely to avoid relegation this season.
Elche vs Barcelona predicted line-ups
Pape Cheikh and Lucas Boye will miss out on Saturday’s clash due to suspension, while Enzo Roco and Randy Nteka are out injured, with Lisandro Magallan, Alex Collado and John Nwankwo being injury doubts.
As for Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez will not have the injured Pedri, Andreas Christensen or Ousmane Dembele at his disposal, while Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong are doubtful through injuries.
Elche’s predicted line-up (5-4-1): Edgar Badia; Jose Carmona, Heliberton Palacios, Gonzalo Verdu; Pedro Bigas, Carlos Clerc; Pere Milla, Omar Mascarell, Gerard Gumbau; Fidel, Ezequiel Ponce.
Barcelona’s predicted line-up (4-3-3): Marc-Andre Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Jules Kounde, Marcos Alonso, Alejandro Balde; Franck Kessie, Sergio Busquets, Gavi; Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati.
Elche vs Barcelona: When does it start?
The LaLiga Santander duel between Elche and Barcelona kicks off on Saturday at 21:00 CEST, which is the local time in Spain.
This is 20:00 BST UK time and, for those living in the USA, you can tune in at 16:00 ET / 13:15 PT.
Elche vs Barcelona: Where to watch it?
For those living in the USA, you can watch the LaLiga Santander fixture between Elche and Barcelona on ESPN+.
Meanwhile, for those living in the United Kingdom, the match will be broadcast on LaLiga TV.
Source: Marca
