Barcelona vs Espanyol Preview

Espanyol’s 1-0 win in the first leg of this clash was their first win over their local rivals in 9 years and they will be looking to build on that in this game.

Lionel Messi missed a penalty in that game and it was predictably a hostile environment for the league leaders.

Despite that win however, it will still take something of a miracle for them to win at Barcelona in this game as the hosts are by far the best team in the Spanish league this season.

Espanyol lost to Sevilla at the weekend but prior to that they were on a run of 4 games without a defeat, winning 3.

Barcelona bounced back emphatically from their first loss in 30 games by running riot against Real Betis at the weekend – 0-5 was the final score line and they will be looking to take that momentum with them to this game.

They defeated Espanyol by the same score line when the Catalans visited them earlier in the season but that Espanyol team has improved considerably and although they are 14^th in the league table, they will give their all for a derby clash like this especially in the Copa del Rey.

Barcelona are favourites here and they are expected to launch waves of attack at Espanyol in this game until they are able to break them down.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Barcelona

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Real Sociedad		2-4		Barcelona	14 Jan, 2018	Spanish Primera División
W	Barcelona		5-0		Celta Vigo	11 Jan, 2018	Spanish Copa del Rey
W	Barcelona		3-0		Levante	7 Jan, 2018	Spanish Primera División
D	Celta Vigo		1-1		Barcelona	4 Jan, 2018	Spanish Copa del Rey
W	Real Madrid		0-3		Barcelona	23 Dec, 2017	Spanish Primera División

Espanyol

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
D	Espanyol		1-1		Athletic Bilbao	14 Jan, 2018	Spanish Primera División
W	Levante		0-2		Espanyol	11 Jan, 2018	Spanish Copa del Rey
W	Málaga		0-1		Espanyol	8 Jan, 2018	Spanish Primera División
L	Espanyol		1-2		Levante	4 Jan, 2018	Spanish Copa del Rey
W	Espanyol		1-0		Atletico Madrid	22 Dec, 2017	Spanish Primera División

H2H

DATE	COMPETITION
Barcelona		5-0		Espanyol	9 Sep, 2017	Spanish Primera División
Espanyol		0-3		Barcelona	29 Apr, 2017	Spanish Primera División
Barcelona		4-1		Espanyol	18 Dec, 2016	Spanish Primera División
Barcelona		0-1		Espanyol	25 Oct, 2016	Friendly