Last night the La Liga season kicked off with two teams winning away from home and Barcelona will hope to do the same this Sunday as they visit Getafe for their own league curtain-raiser.
Rayo Vallecano walked away 2-0 winners against Almería while Valencia upset Seville at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium 2-1, Barcelona will be hoping they’re not on the end of an upset this weekend as they visit the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
We’ve got all the information you need for the game including where you can watch it, the team news and predicted starting XI’s.
Getafe vs Barcelona – When, Where & How to Watch
When: August 13th, 9:30 pm CEST (3:30 pm EST, 8:30 pm GMT)
Where: Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, Getafe
How: DAZN (Spain), ESPN+ (USA), ITV (UK)
Barcelona Team News
It’s a race against the clock for Barca as they try to get all their key players registered ahead of the game. With the new financial level being pulled and the sale of Franck Kessie, they should be able to register the majority of their squad.
Ronal Araujo has already been registered and it’s expected that others will follow today.
Inigo Martinez will miss the game with an injury, although he has started to work with the ball so he should be back soon.
Andreas Christensen and İlkay Gündoğan have both recovered from injury and both are expected to start the game.
Gavi did play against Tottenham, but that was his first game of the pre-season and he looked rusty, so Xavi may elect to start the game without him.
Barcelona Predicted Starting XI (4-3-3)
Marc-André ter Stegen (GK), Ronald Araújo (RB), Andreas Christensen (CB), Jules Koundé (CB), Alejando Balde (LB), Oriol Romeu (CM), Frenkie de Jong (CM), Ilkay Gundogan (CM) Pedri (LM), Raphinha (RM), Lewandowksi (ST)
With Gavi not at full strength, this may be the system that Xavi chooses to operate with Pedri drifting inside to make a four-man central midfielder, opening up space for Balde to work down the left.
Getafe Team News
Getafe barely avoided relegation last season finishing 15th, and the squad has received an injection of new players to try and turn things around.
Munir El Haddadi, Angel Algobia and Jaime Seoane have all left the club this summer, but Jose Bordalas was able to strengthen his squad with the additions of centre-back Omar Alderete from Hertha Berlin and right winger Portu from Real Sociedad.
Getafe have already ruled out a number of players for the game on Sunday including Jose Carmona, Mauro Arambarri, Enes Unai and Luis Milla.
Getafe Predicted Starting XI (5-3-2)
David Soria (GK), Damian Suarex (RB), Stefan Mitrovic (CB), Omar Alderete (CB), Domingos Duarte (CB), Gaston Alvarez (LB), Carles Alena (CM), Djene (CM), Nemanja Maksimovic (CM), Juanmi Latasa (FW), Jaime Mata (FW).
Barcelona vs Getafe – Last 5 Meetings
It’s not been easy going for Barcelona against Getafe, who are quickly becoming a bit of a bogey team, especially away from home where Barcelona haven’t won or scored in 3 straight games (2 draws, 1 loss)
Getafe 0-0 Barcelona (April 2023)
Barcelona 1-0 Getafe (January 2023)
Getafe 0-0 Barcelona (May 2022)
Barcelona 2-1 Getafe (August 2021)
Barcelona 5-2 Getafe (April 2021)
Barcelona & Getafe – Current Form
Barcelona – The La Liga champions had a rough start to their pre-season with a stomach virus leading to the cancellation of their opening game against Juventus, followed by a 5-3 loss to Arsenal. However, they’ll be going into the game with plenty of confidence after recording three wins in a row to end the pre-season. 3-0 against Real Madrid, 1-0 against AC Milan and 4-2 against Tottenham in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
Getafe – The Madrid side started their pre-season well with wins against Bradford (1-0), Leganes (1-0) and Independiente del Valle (2-1) before two straight defeats against Reims (1-0) and Granada (2-1) halted that momentum. They did finish off strong with a 4-1 win over Vitesse and will come into the game with some real confidence.
Getafe vs Barcelona Score Prediction
Getafe 0-1 Barcelona
I think it’ll be a close contest with Getafe setting up to frustrate Barcelona with 5 at the back and plenty of cover in front of defense. Barca will dominate possession and I think it may take a moment of magic from one of the subs to break the deadlock.
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