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Barcelona vs Espanyol : Lineups and LIVE updates

Barcelona will aim to reclaim their La Liga table-toppers position when they welcome Espanyol to Spotify Camp Nou in a what is expected to be a fierce derby.

This is the first league game for both clubs in more than seven weeks hiatus due to the World Cup. Both teams have several players representing their nations in Qatar. Barcelona, of course, were the most affected, with 16 of their players travelling to Qatar, the most of any La Liga team.

However, Spain's early exit means that players like Gavi, Pedri, Sergio Busquets, Ferran Torres, and Jordi Alba have still had a decent recovery period and should be chomping at bits to impress here in this derby clash.

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The Blaugrana have had a mixed fist-half of the campaign prior to the World Cup. They only managed a 3rd-place finish in the so-called Champions League "Group of Death", falling to hefty defeats at the hands of Bayern and Inter. This meant they will now play in the Europa League.

In La Liga too, they lost the El Clasico against Real Madrid but a slip-up by their perennial rivals meant they finished the first half of the season at the top of the table.

They were leading the league by two points, but Los Blancos' 2-0 victory against Villarreal earlier this weekend means Xavi's men are now trailing by a point. Now, they have the opportunity to reclaim their two-point lead over Real Madrid with a victory here.

Espanyol, on the other hand, are having a terrible season in La Liga. The White and Blue are currently languishing in 16th place, having only managed two wins out of their 14 games so far. They limped their way before the WC gave them a much-needed breather.

They hobbled their way before the World Cup gave them a much-needed break. They are only one point above the relegation zone, and a defeat tonight could send them into the bottom three.

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Barcelona vs Espanyol confirmed line-ups

FC Barcelona XI (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Christensen, Alonso, Alba; Gavi, De Jong, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Fati

Espanyol XI (5-3-2): Lecomte; Gil, Calero, Gomez, Cabrera, Olivan; Melamed, Souza, Darder; Braithwaite, Joselu

Barcelona vs Espanyol LIVE updates

Barcelona's upcoming fixtures

After this Barcelona derby, the Blaugrana will make the trip to Estadio José Rico Pérez to face CF Intercity, a team from the Primera RFEF, the third tier of Spanish Football, in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 on Wednesday night, followed by a trip to Madrid in a tricky La Liga clash against Diego Simeone's battle-hardened Atletico Madrid on Sunday night.

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