Espanyol vs Barcelona Match Preview

Pep Guardiola's Blaugranas visit Espanyol at the Cornella-El-Prat for the most exciting Catalonian derby of the last years. Barcelona has shown to be in excellent form to repeat last year's Liga title, while Espanyol has become one of the main revelations of the first half, occupying the 4th position with 28 points.

Barcelona has a perfect record playing at home, but Espanyol has secured the 21 possible points at the Cornella so far. Mauricio Pochettino recovers Javier Garcia and Raul Baena for this clash, providing a major defensive boost to his Pericos.

Much more than three points are in play for both squads. "We play for three points and for the pride of a city. i hope the best squad will take the full scoring, I hope it's Espanyol" said Espanyol's coach Pochettino. "Whoever controls the flow of the ball will have more opportunities to deliver a fatal blow. It's great for the show that both we and Barcelona can play at full capacity" he added.

Lio Messi, Pedro and David Villa will be leading Barcelona's attack. Xavi and Andres Iniesta's partnership might pose an unsolvable riddle to Espanyol's midfielders on Saturday's late game.

Barcelona wants to put a ribbon on its best start in La Liga in all history while a victory will greatly boost Pochettino's Pericos confidence.

Espanyol's top striker Pablo Osvaldo is likely to play a major role in the development of the game, will this be enough for the hosts to stop Barcelona from claiming the three points?

Date/Time:	Dec 18, 2010, 2:00pm
Competition:	Spain La Liga
Live/Repeat:	Live
Venue:	Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (Cornellà de Llobregat)