Elche vs Barcelona preview, prediction, team news, and head-to-head

The newly promoted will fancy an unlikely win to move to the top half of the table, while La Liga leaders Barcelona will look forward to widening their narrow 1-point gap over 2nd placed Real Madrid.

Elche are currently at the bottom half of the table, after conceding a late goal against Levante to end their last match in a 3-2 defeat last weekend. The 11th-placed team has not enjoyed an impressive run this year.

Facing a very strong Barcelona side is not a fixture Eder Sarabia's men will hope for, especially as they seek their first win in five matches. However, the host will bank on their impressive form at home this season.

Meanwhile, Barcelona are still on top of the La Liga table with just one point above second-placed rivals Real Madrid. The table leaders will enter this fixture with great momentum from their last match.

The Catalans secured an automatic qualification to the UCL round of 16, after collecting all three points by beating Copenhagen 4-1 in their last match of the group stage. This result came after an impressive league match where Hansi Flick's men hammered Oviedo 3-0 to remain on top of the table.

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Barcelona have been the dominant side in recent H2H meetings against Elche, including a 3-1 victory in the reverse fixture. The Blaugrana were triumphant in each of their last 11 meetings across all competitions. In fact, the home team failed to score in 15 of their last 18 meetings against their visitors.

Elche will be without Aleix Febas due to suspension from accumulated yellow cards, while Barcelona loanee Hector Fort will be unavailable to face his parent club due to injury. However, both Andre Silva and Alvaro Rodriguez will feature for the host team this Saturday.

While Barcelona appears to have a very strong squad, the visitors will still be without midfield maestro Pedri and long-time absentee Gavi. Flick will also be delighted with the return of Frenkie De Jong after missing the match against Copenhagen.

Another boost for the visitors is the return of Ferran Torres to add more depth to the team's attacking options. This means Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, and Marcus Rashford will all be available.

Elche (3-5-2): Pena; Chust, Affengruber, Bigas; Pedrosa, Neto, Diangana, Aguado, Valera; Rodriguez, Silva

Barcelona (4-3-3-1): J Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martin, Balde; E Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; F Torres

Barcelona are chasing a second consecutive La Liga title and will not afford to drop any points and throw away their narrow 1 point lead at the top of the table. The home team will have no chance against the Catalans, especially seeing their recent performances.

However, Elche will bank on the fact that Barcelona easily conceded and they have scored in their last 5 matches.

Predictions: Elche 1-4 Barcelona

• Bet on Barcelona to win

• Over 3.5 goals

• Raphinha to score