Ah yes, UD Las Palmas, “the island club,” a football club, from the sound of things, dwells in paradise. Every match is a fiesta at UD Las Palmas, which sounds like a place the late, great Jimmy Buffett would sing about. Unlike Margaritaville, it is an actual place and not a state of mind, as it’s located on Grand Canary Island (or Gran Canario) which is straight west off the coast of Morocco. To be precise, it’s near the Morocco/Western Sahara border.
As for FC Barcelona, they are starting to really fall behind now in the pace to retain their La Liga title. The Blaugranes are now seven points away from the top spot, but there is still plenty of season to play.
FC Barcelona at UD Las Palmas FYIs
Kickoff: Thurs. Jan. 3, 20:00 CET, Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
Barca Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
La Liga Standing, Form: UD Las Palmas 9th 25 pts, LDWWL FC Barcelona 4th, 38 pts, WDLWD
Google Result Probability: UD Las Palmas 17% Draw 22% FC Barcelona 61%
The last time Barca played a competitive match was Wed. Dec 20, when they beat Almeria 3-2. While yes, there was a friendly against Club America the very next day, it will still mark 15 days in between meaningful football matches for the Catalan Club.
I guess you can call that the festive island holiday.
With that all said, let’s take a look at what kind of lineup Xavi might select for this one.
FC Barcelona Starting XI Prediction at UD Las Palmas
Inaki Pena; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andres Christensen, Joao Cancelo; Ilkay Gundogan, Frenkie de Jong, Fermin Lopez; Raphinha, Joao Felix, 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.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.