Xavi's men will get the chance to regain stability before the trip to Porto in the Champions League. The last two games have been against tricky opponents, but it must be said that Barcelona have dropped a watt or two in their powers recently. Maybe it could be down to the fact that there's little time to recuperate between games, but the team has what it takes to be better. And they intend to demonstrate that as Sevilla come to town.
Mendilibar's men have actually been on a bit of an upswing, with their latest performance a 5 star display at home against Almería. They also have Champions League commitments next week in Netherlands, but there's no doubt the Europa League Champions will approach this game like the five star clash it is. The winner will take all.
INTERESTING STATS
-Barcelona’s six-game winning streak came to an end when they played a draw against Mallorca last time out.
- Sevilla have been on an unbeaten run in their last three league outings after starting the season with three losses in a row.
- The Catalan giants have been unbeaten so far this season.
- Xavi’s have only lost three times to the Andalusians in their last 37 meetings across all competitions.
Last five meetings
05/02/23 (LIGA) Barça 3-0 Sevilla
03/09/22 (LIGA) Sevilla 0-3Barça
03/04/22 (LIGA) Barça 1-0 Sevilla
21/12/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 1-1 Barça
03/03/21 (C DEL REY) Barça 3-0 Sevilla
TEAM NEWS
Barcelona
Frenkie DeJong and Pedri remain out of the squad list due to Injuries. Ronald Araujo and Iñigo Martinez both had chances to get up to speed this week, to mixed results, but they should be better in their next performance. Jules Koundé and Andreas Christensen look to get back into the XI, however. Marc Andre TerStegen will be in goal.
Fermin Lopez, who scored the equalizer at Son Moix, will have a chance to get into the line up, as Gavi, Romeu and Gündoğan remain the only other midfielders available.
Robert Lewandowski came off the bench and had a huge say in that equalizer. He'll be up to start once again, with Lamine Yamal and João Felix looking to round up the attack ahead of Raphinha and Ferran Torres.
Sevilla
The visitors will be without the services of Oliver Torres, Mariano Diaz, Marcos Acuna, Marcao, Tanguy Nianzou, and Alfonso Pastor.
Sergio Ramos will return to facing Barcelona at least twice a season, pairing up with Loic Bade at central defense and shielding Nyland in goal. Jesus Navas and Adria Pedrosa will be the fullbacks.
Djibril Sow, Ivan Rakitic and Erik Lamela will be in midfield, while Suso and Dodi Lukebakio will play the wingers in attack. Youssef En-Nesyri is out injured and will likely be replaced by Rafa Mir as the striker.
What time does Barcelona vs Sevilla kick-off?
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Stadium: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys
Date: Friday 29 September
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
Sevilla will be confident going into this fixture, based on their recent performances in their last 3 games, but Barcelona will be going all out to get back to their ravaging best, right before UCL night in Porto.