After failing to win any of their last three competitive matches, Barcelona will be desperate to end 2023 with a victory when they play host to struggling Almeria on Wednesday.
The visitors, who are propping up the La Liga table, travel to Monjuic with aspirations of springing a surprise and ending their long wait for a first league win of the season.
Match preview
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Barcelona head into the midweek contest without a win in three games after losing to Girona and Royal Antwerp in La Liga and the Champions League respectively, before they were held to a draw in Saturday's away clash with Valencia.
The Blaugrana looked to be on course to claim maximum points when Joao Felix tapped home from close range to net his third league goal of the season, but they ultimately had to settle for a share of the spoils after Hugo Guillamon scored a 70th-minute equaliser to extend Barcelona's winless away run to four competitive matches.
Having now won three, drawn two and lost two of their last seven league games, a lack of consistency is harming Barcelona's chances of retaining the title that they won last year.
With his side sitting in third place and seven points adrift of the top of the table, Xavi is under pressure to spark an upturn in fortunes, beginning with Wednesday's fixture against basement side Almeria.
Impressively, they have won all seven of their home top-flight matches against Almeria, keeping five clean sheets in that period, including in their most recent home meeting in November 2022 when goals from Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong helped secure a 2-0 victory.
Xavi would certainly welcome another shutout on Wednesday after seeing his team concede in five of their last six home games across all competitions.
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Almeria know that they will have their work cut out to trouble the champions following a disastrous first half of the season, where they have failed to win any of their 17 league matches.
Gaizka Garitano, who replaced Vicente Moreno in October, saw his side claim just their fifth point of the campaign at the weekend when they played out a goalless affair with Mallorca – a result that represented their second straight 0-0 home draw after previously taking a point off Real Betis.
While consecutive home clean sheets may offer encouragement to a side that boasts the worst defensive record in La Liga, they will need to start picking up victories if they are to close the sizeable eight-point gap to safety.
They make the trip to Catalonia off the back of a dismal away run, having lost each of their last seven away league matches since they drew 1-1 with fellow Andalusian side Cadiz at the end of August.
Although their away form offers little cause for optimism, Almeria will have fond memories of their most recent head-to-head meeting in February when they edged out Barcelona via a 1-0 scoreline at the Power Horse Stadium to record their first La Liga win over the Catalan giants.
Team News
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Barcelona remain without the injured quartet of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso and Gavi, while De Jong will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the La Liga season.
With the Netherlands international ruled out of Wednesday's home clash, Oriol Romeu is likely to come into the side to feature in midfield alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Pedri.
After combining for Barcelona's goal at the weekend, Felix and Raphinha are set to retain their places in the front three, where they will offer support to veteran forward Robert Lewandowski.
As for the visitors, their injury list includes Marko Milovanovic, Ibrahima Kone, Marc Pubill, Martin Svidersky and Luis Suarez.
Lucas Robertone was forced off against Mallorca with a shoulder problem, but even if he is passed fit, he will miss Wednesday's contest due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Despite being introduced as a substitute at the weekend, Gonzalo Melero had to be withdrawn in the closing stages due to a muscle problem, making him a doubt for the midweek trip to Barcelona.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Cancelo, Araujo, Kounde, Balde; Gundogan, Romeu, Pedri; Raphinha, Felix, Lewandowski
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Montes, Gonzalez, Chumi; Pozo, Lopy, Baba, Akieme; Arribas, Embarba, Baptistao
We say: Barcelona 3-0 Almeria
With Barcelona experiencing a poor run of form, Wednesday's contest against a winless Almeria side could be just what they need to restore confidence.
Having won all of their seven La Liga matches against the Andalusian side, we think that the hosts will showcase their quality to end the year with a comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
