FC Barcelona are headed to Real Betis on Sunday, and they’ll do so with Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo both eligible to feature again, having finished serving their suspensions in the Copa del Rey round of 16 win over Unionistas last night.
Perhaps Xavi, who has reportedly lost the dressing room, will immediately insert both players back into the lineup. Barca are suffering though a season that is
FC Barcelona at Real Betis FYIs
Kickoff: Sun. Jan. 21, 6:30 CET, Benito Villamarin, Sevilla, Spain
Barca Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
La Liga Standing, Form: Real Betis 7th 31 pts, WLDDD FC Barcelona 4th, 41 pts, WWDLW
Google Result Probability: Real Betis 23% Draw 24% FC Barcelona 53%
FC Barcelona Team News
The injury situation remains pretty much the same, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Joao Cancelo, Marcos Alonso, Inigo Martinez, Gavi and Raphinha all unavailable here due to injury.
The only potential new issue here is Andreas Christensen, who had to be replaced last night due to an unspecified knock, but the situation is thought to be pretty minor, so he should be available here.
Given that the opposition the last time out was a third tier club, one should really expect Xavi to go with a much stronger team here than he did in midweek.
FC Barcelona Starting XI Prediction at Real Betis
Inaki Pena; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andres Christensen, Alejandro Balde; Frenkie De Jong, Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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