Levante vs Barcelona: Expected Starting XI for top six clash
The Catalans travel back to the stadium where their unbeaten season came to an in the penultimate game of last season.
Barcelona currently sit top of the league with a three-point gap on Sevilla and Atletico Madrid in second and third place respectively. Two clean sheets in the past two league matches has brought some confidence back to a defence that was starting to look really vulnerable.
Levante are a side that are often involved in high-scoring affairs with 4-4, 3-0, 2-2 and 3-1 the scorelines of their last four league games and Barcelona are the only side to have had more goals in their league games — 60 compared to 52. Therefore, this match is likely to have a lot of goals, although Barcelona’s firepower suggests that it could be one-sided.
Expected Starting XI (4-3-3)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba
Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arthur Melo
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele
Ernesto Valverde was able to rest a number of key players against Tottenham so Suarez, Busquets, Pique and Alba should all come into this match fresh. Sergi Roberto and Samuel Umtiti are both still out due to injury, so Semedo and Lenglet keep their places. They could find it hard to regain their places once they come back due to the consistency these two are showing.
Dembele should get the nod over Philippe Coutinho after another impressive display against Tottenham in the midweek Champions League fixture. Suarez adds verticality and tireless work-rate to the front line, which makes him a key aspect while Messi has his usual free role on the right-wing.
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Rakitic seems to be undroppable for Valverde due to the number of games he has been involved in, so he’s likely to start. Levante have shown themselves to be a team that is defensively leaky and, therefore, they will struggle to deal with periods of sustained pressure, which means Arthur is a better fit than Arturo Vidal due to the ball retention and press resistance he provides. The Chilean adds penetration, but Barcelona shouldn’t have too many issues breaking down Levante’s defensive shape so he is unlikely to start.