Barcelona will be looking to continue their surge towards the La Liga title when they play rock-bottom Cordoba.
Jose Antonio Romero's men will be relegated from the division if they fail to beat the Catalan club in their showdown at the Nuevo Arcangel.
Cordoba
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The season has been a disaster for Cordoba as they are on the brink of relegation to the Segunda Division after accumulating just 20 points from their 34 matches.
The poor campaign has seen the club part company with two managers as Albert Ferrer was dismissed in October, while Miroslav Dukic lasted until March following a run of eight straight defeats.
Cordoba were overwhelmed for the start of the campaign and they failed to register a victory until December when they finally claimed three points against Athletic Bilbao.
Further victories over the New Year period followed against Granada and Rayo Vallecano, but the rot well and truly set back in at the end of January, which has all but sealed the club's fate in the light of their 1-0 defeat to Levante in midweek.
Cordoba's home form has been the main reason for their downfall this season as they have taken nine points from a possible 51 in the campaign, and that record is unlikely to improve with the visit of Luis Enrique's men on Saturday.
The club's defensive record has not been terrible as they have the 14th best record in the division, conceding 53 goals in their 34 matches and keeping seven clean sheets in the process.
Their problems have come at the other end of the pitch, where they have failed to score in their last four matches and mustered only 21 goals in the entire campaign. If they are to keep their survival hopes alive their prowess in front of goal will have to improve against Barcelona.
Recent form: LDLDLL
Barcelona
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Barcelona continued their march towards the La Liga title with an emphatic 6-0 win over Getafe on Tuesday to maintain their two-point lead over Real Madrid.
Enrique's men are making a strong charge to fend off the challenge of Real as they have won their last three games on the bounce without conceding a goal to keep their hopes of winning a famous treble alive.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are starting to click into exceptional form at the right time of the season as they passed 100 goals between them this season to break the record previously held by the Argentine along with Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o.
The Catalan club will be confident of stretching their winning run in the league to four matches when they take on struggling Cordoba, given their opponents' poor record at the Nuevo Arcangel this season.
Barcelona have the best record on the road in the division this season as they have recorded 12 wins out of a possible 17, and have only lost twice on their travels in games against Real Madrid and Real Sociedad, which came back in January.
An understated reason for Barcelona's success in the campaign has been their defensive record as the club have conceded 19 goals in their 34 matches, which have included 20 clean sheets.
Kevin Gameiro was the last man to score against Enrique's men in the league in early April, and since then Barca have gone 276 minutes without conceding in the league.
The Catalan club will be seeking to take advantage of Real's tough trip to Sevilla to put the pressure on Ancelotti's side to try to wrap up the title before turning their attention back to the Champions League.
Recent form: WWDWWW
Recent form (all competitions): DWWWWW
Team News
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Jordi Alba will be available for the Catalan club after serving his one-game suspension in their win over Getafe in midweek. Meanwhile, Thomas Vermaelen could make his first appearance for the club after battling back from a serious knee injury.
Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic could return to the starting lineup along with Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique, who missed the match in midweek at Camp Nou, although with their Champions League clash against Bayern Munich on the horizon the players may once again be rested.
Romero has no new injury worries ahead of the clash and could opt to stick with the same team that lost to Levante during midweek. Adrian Gunino, Heldon and Federico Cartabia could all push to get into the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the clash on Tuesday.
Cordoba possible starting lineup:
Carlos, Crespo, Fraga, Lopez, Deivid, Luso, Khrin, Fidel, Fedo Vico, Bebe, Ghilas
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Bravo, Alves, Bartra, Mathieu, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Raikitic, Suarez, Messi, Neymar
Head To Head
Barcelona recorded a crushing 5-0 victory over Cordoba in their earlier meeting this season at Camp Nou as Messi netted a late brace, while Suarez, Pique and Pedro were also on the scoresheet.
The last time the teams played at the home of Cordoba, the Catalan club eased to a 2-0 victory thanks to a brace from Messi in their Copa Del Rey matchup.
The only other meeting between the sides was the second leg of the Copa Del Rey clash where Barcelona ran out 5-0 victors as David Villa and Alexis Sanchez netted two goals each and Thiago Alcantara also got on the scoresheet.
We say: Cordoba 0-4 Barcelona
Barcelona are at the peak of their powers at the moment because of the form of Messi, Neymar and Suarez who are firing in goals for fun. Expect that to continue in the clash at the Nuevo Arcangel to seal the fate of Cordoba.
Simon Sinclair
