Barça vs Valencia: Preview

After a disaster in Rome, Barça hope to avoid a big league defeat at home

Barcelona (1st, 79pts) vs Valencia (3rd, 65pts)

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Competition/Round: 2017-18 La Liga, Matchday 32

Barcelona team news: Ivan Rakitic (out, hand), Sergi Samper (out, ankle), Lucas Digne (doubtful, thigh)

Valencia team news: Francis Coquelin (out, Achilles), Javi Jiménez (out, knee)

Date/Time: Saturday, April 14th, 2018, 4.15pm CET, 3.15pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 10.15am EST, 7.15am PST (USA), 7.45pm IST (India)

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande

How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), SONY TEN 2 (India), others

How to stream: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

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What is the best thing Barcelona can have after suffering one of the most humiliating losses in their recent history? A home game against a top La Liga team. What is the WORST thing Barcelona can have after suffering one of the most humiliating losses in their recent history? A home game against a top La Liga team.

The Blaugrana welcome Valencia to Camp Nou on Saturday, and boy does this promise to be a tough one for the league leaders. Not only because their opponents are the most dangerous counter attackers in Spanish football and have won five in a row since getting all of their top players back from injury, but also because the AS Roma defeat is still pretty fresh and hard to forget anytime soon.

Barça MUST respond, not only to continue their journey to the league title, but also to start the healing process after last Tuesday night. We won’t forget it anytime soon, but beating Valencia with authority will help a little. Just a little.

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POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-4-2): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Coutinho, Paulinho, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez

Valencia (4-4-2): Neto; Vezo, Garay, Gabriel, Gayà; Soler, Parejo, Kondogbia, Guedes; Zaza, Rodrigo

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PREDICTION

I’m really sorry, but I just don’t have any confidence in this team right now and Valencia are just on fire: 3-1 to the visitors, with a Gonçalo Guedes masterclass. I love that dude.