Welcome back to TalkBarca. Our topic for today is the Match Preview of Deportivo Alaves vs FC Barcelona. Barcelona had a successful trip to Turin three days back. Now they are traveling to Alaves, Basque Country to face a compact side of Deportivo Alaves. Here is the Preview of the match summing up all you need to know about this upcoming La Liga fixture.
Barcelona is going to face Alaves away at their home, Mendizorrotza Stadium for La Liga’s 8th Match Day. The kickoff time for this game is 9:00 pm local time. Kickoff timings in Pakistan are 01:00 am, 1st November while kickoff timings in India are 01:30 am.
ALAVES VS FC BARCELONA MATCH PREVIEW
We are still waiting to see big teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid get consistent in their performances in La Liga. The underdogs are performing pretty well as compared to the big names. Barcelona’s opponents for this game are also somewhat underdogs who have an equal number of points than the Catalan club. The difference is that Alaves has played two more games than FC Barcelona. This gives FC Barcelona a clear advantage in their pursuit to go at the top of the table.
Barcelona is currently dealing with a very tight fixture list with many games lined up for them. Therefore, the players not only have to get their training regularly but also make sure that they are resting enough as well. Deportivo Alaves has not been performing very well and this means that Barcelona can use their bad form to their advantage. However, Ronald Koemann also has to make sure that he uses his player choices wisely in order to avoid injury issues. Philippe Coutinho is out injured, and Barcelona’s back-up Center Back, Ronald Araujo is also out due to a hamstring injury.
Furthermore, Samuel Umtiti and Marc Andre Ter Stegen have started training with the team. However, they are not fully fit to make it to the starting eleven or even the bench. Therefore, Barcelona is going to advance into this game without any Center Back backup. On the other hand, Alaves is also dealing with some injury issues. Rodrigo Ely and Peri Pons are out injured. However, their manager, Machin has enough options to fill in for them. Therefore, Alaves is going to come into this game with a more complete squad than FC Barcelona.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM BARCELONA?
Barcelona is expected to play in a similar manner as they did against the Italian side, Juventus. Barcelona played their best football of the season in the second half of the game against the Old Lady. Therefore, Koemann is expected to come up with similar strategies and tricks as he did in the Champions League fixture. It is also very likely that some players are rested for this fixture. Ansu Fati can start the game as well as play for the entire 90 minutes. The same applies to Antoine Griezmann who started the game against Juventus as well and undoubtedly, performed well. Griezmann was in fact, very unlucky on a few occasions not to score.
This means that Pedri can get a well-deserved rest. Ousmane Dembele can be on the starting list as well. Furthermore, Pique can make his return after missing the game against Juventus due to suspension. Sergino Dest can replace Sergio Roberto as well who needs a well-deserved rest.
Ronald Koemann also spoke about Dest and Roberto. He said,
“There is healthy competition at Right-Back between Dest and Roberto. Both of them have shown their quality.”
The only major problem to point out from the Catalan team is the finishing. Lack of conversion rate in the final third is going to get to the team at some point or another. Therefore, the entire team must focus on being as clinical in front of the goal as possible.
If Barcelona starts to convert most of the chances they create per game, it is not going to take them much time to achieve their desired results.
CONCLUSION
Barcelona has managed to keep a clean sheet in the last 8 away meetings against Deportivo Alaves. Furthermore, Alaves has lost their previous 8 games against FC Barcelona. This makes FC Barcelona the favorites for this game.
It is all a matter of time to wait and see what happens.
VISCA EL BARCA!
