On Tuesday night, Barcelona will go to Mallorca to get back on track in Spain’s premier division.
Although they lost 2-1 to Las Palmas on Saturday, Hansi Flick’s team is still atop La Liga. In a fascinating matchup, Mallorca will be riding high after a 2-1 victory at home against Valencia.
Previous Matches and Head-to-head
Surprisingly, Mallorca is now in sixth place in La Liga despite scoring only fifteen goals in fifteen league games this season. Their success this term has been founded on a solid defence.
Jagoba Arrasate’s squad is coming off back-to-back victories against Las Palmas and Valencia, and their defensive record of just 13 goals surrendered is tied for third-best in the league.
On Friday night, Valencia took the lead against the Pirates on a penalty kick goal by Luis Rioja in the 32nd minute. However, Cyle Larin tied the game in the last moments of the first half, and Abdon Prats scored the game-winning goal in the previous seconds.
With Athletic Bilbao in fourth position and Mallorca behind by only two points, the Catalan club targets a berth in Europe this season. However, they will need to find the back of the goal more often.
Mallorca welcomes a squad now experiencing form issues in the league, and the Pirates last defeated Barcelona in May 2009. However, the points were split in the comparable encounter during the 2023-24 season.
Barcelona comes into this match reeling after a shocking 2-1 home loss to Las Palmas, and they have only managed to earn one point in their past three league matches.
With 34 points after 15 matches (11 wins, one tie, and three losses), the Catalan club is still atop La Liga, but they currently lead Real Madrid by only one point (with a game in hand).
Barcelona will be looking to get back on track on Tuesday before their trip to Real Betis next weekend; Real Madrid reclaimed control of the Spanish championship race with a 2-0 victory over Getafe on Sunday.
Even though Flick’s team has scored 43 goals so far this season in La Liga, they have let in 16 goals overall, including four in their last two games.
Although they are struggling in the Spanish league, Barcelona has been outstanding in the Champions League this season, earning 12 points and finishing third in their group behind Inter Milan and Liverpool. They have won four of their five matches to go onto 12 points.
Mallorca x Barcelona Team News
While Toni Lato, Ivan Cuellar, Takuma Asano, and Copete will all be absent for Mallorca for Tuesday’s match, Vedat Muriqi is back in the lineup after serving a suspension against Barcelona.
Due to Muriqi’s expected return to the squad, Dani Rodriguez may be benched vs Barcelona, and Sergi Darder and Robert Navarro will likely start in the wide midfield roles.
Larin will occupy the latter third of the field, and the Pirates’ Manu Morlanes and Samu Costa will likely remain in their respective midfield positions.
Regarding Barcelona, Marc Bernal, Ansu Fati, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are all out with injuries; however, Marc Casado will be ready to play again after serving a ban against Las Palmas.
It would be surprising if Alejandro Balde did not play in this matchup due to his neck injury, which he sustained in a collision with Sandro Ramirez against Las Palmas. However, Spain International is thought to have made a full recovery.
Not only is Dani Olmo expected to start after coming off the bench last time out, but Lamine Yamal, who made his injury comeback on Saturday, should also be back in the starting lineup.
Our predictions
Barcelona to win @ 1.64 on Sky247.ng
We are backing the league leaders to earn a vital three points at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix despite this very difficult match for Barcelona. The Catalan outfit should probably lose more points on Tuesday. Flick’s team needs a response after a bad run in the league.
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