Barcelona are on the road on Saturday looking to avoid a third consecutive loss across all competitions when they face Valencia at Mestalla in La Liga. Xavi's men lost 4-2 at home to Catalan rivals Girona last weekend to drop to fourth in the Spanish topflight while Ruben Baraja's men went down to Getafe which places Los Che in the bottom half of the table. Consistency has been problematic for both sides so far this season and Barca are now seven points off the pace being set by La Liga leaders Girona and five behind Real Madrid who are second by two points. Valencia are 11th and nine points clear of the relegation places, but finished 16th last season and really need a top half placing this campaign with a youthful squad. Barcelona have won each of the pair's last five La Liga games with the Catalan giants unbeaten against Valencia since early 2020, but Xavi's position has been further weakened by a midweek loss to Royal Antwerp in the UEFA Champions League. Another loss could give Barca's leadership a decision to make heading into what could be a decisive early 2024 stretch.
Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 16 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Mestalla -- Valencia, Spain
- TV/Live stream: ESPN+
- Odds: Valencia +380; Draw: +300; Barcelona -163
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Valencia: Jose Gaya is out injured while Andre Almeida is also expected to be unavailable with an injury concern of his own. Gabriel Paulista and Javi Guerra are suspended so Mouctar Diakhaby is expected to step in at the back while Hugo Guillamon could come into the midfield reckoning.
Potential Valencia XI: Mamardashvili; Correia, Mosquera, Diakhaby, Gasiorowski; Foulquier, Guillamon, Pepelu, Perez; Lopez, Duro.
Barcelona: Frenkie de Jong is expected to return but Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso, Gavi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen will all miss out. Joao Cancelo, Pedri, Ilkay Gundogan, Raphinha and Joao Felix all should start here with Ronald Araujo coming back in and De Jong returning to the midfield if fit. Lamine Yamal is likely to drop to the bench after starting in midweek.
Potential Barcelona XI: Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Cancelo; Pedri, De Jong, Gundogan; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix.
Prediction
This one will be tight but Barcelona's good record against Valencia should continue. A draw would not be a huge surprise, but expect Xavi to get the confidence boost that he needs after Barca's recent patchy run. Pick: Valencia 1, Barcelona 2.