Barcelona will be looking for revenge when they travel to meet Alaves on Saturday at the Mendizorrotza Stadium. Alaves pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season in September when they defeated Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou. Moreover, Barcelona have not won a league match at Alaves since 2001 but it's also true that Deportivo Alaves have spent quite a few years in the second division lately. When they last got relegated, in 2005-2006, they held Barcelona to a goalless draw at the Mendizorrotza Stadium.
Alaves are doing just fine so far this season, they are 14 points above the relegation zone and confident of spending another year in the top-flight. They are unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions and have lost just two matches at home all season. Last week they won 4-2 at Gijon, while this week they secured their place in the Copa del Rey final where they will meet Barcelona again. Edgar Mendez is the only injury concern for the hosts as he picked up a knock during the Cup match against Celta Vigo.
Barcelona can't afford to drop points at this stage of the season, they are just one point behind leaders Real Madrid but the Blancos have two games in hand. They have not lost a league match since October, but they did drop points here and there due to rather unexpected draws. Last weekend they secured a comfortable 3-0 win at home over Athletic Bilbao, while in midweek they booked their place in the Copa del Rey final with a 3-2 aggregate win against Atletico Madrid. Javier Mascherano and Rafinha are injured and won't be available for this match.
Probable line-ups:
Alaves: Pacheco - Femenia, Feddal, Laguardia, Hernandez - Garcia, Llorente - Toquero, Camarasa, Gomez - Deyverson
Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Vidal, Mathieu, Pique, Digne - Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta - Messi, Suarez, Neymar
My prediction: Barcelona to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Alaves win - 10.00
Draw - 5.50
Barcelona win - 1.30
02/11/17, 02:02:57 PM
