Hansi Flick’s Barcelona will face Elche in their opening La Liga fixture of the season on Sunday.
Barcelona will aim to start the season on a strong note while Elche, who have already started their La Liga season with a draw against Deportivo a Coruna, will look to get a positive result against the defending champions.
Elche vs Barcelona – Match preview and team news
- Date: Sunday, 23rd August.
- Kick-off: 8:30pm BST.
- Venue: Estadio Manuel Martinez Valerio, Elche.
Elche team news
Elche CF prepares to host the Catalan giants with a few notable absences of their own.
Manager Martín Anselmi will be forced to cope without winger Yago Santiago, who is out with a knee injury, and forward Adam Boayar, who is sidelined with a muscle strain.
Midfielder Grady Diangana and attacker Abiel Osorio remain major doubts as they nurse minor knocks ahead of kickoff.
Elche is expected to set up defensively to contain Barcelona’s new-look attack. Anselmi will likely employ a compact five-man defensive line featuring Victor Chust and Federico Redondo.
Midfield duties will fall heavily on Marc Aguado and Martim Neto to disrupt possession, while summer signing Fer Niño is tasked with leading the line upfront to exploit counter-attacking opportunities.
Barcelona team news
FC Barcelona kicks off its La Liga season under Hansi Flick with significant squad rotation due to injuries and fitness concerns.
Midfielder Frenkie de Jong remains sidelined with a knee injury, while new blockbuster signing Rodri is ruled out after missing training.
Key stars Pedri, Gavi, and Dani Olmo are not yet at full match fitness and will likely start on the bench.
Following Robert Lewandowski’s departure, teenage striker Hamza Abdelkarim is poised to lead the attack after a stellar pre-season.
New winger additions Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi are available for their debuts alongside Lamine Yamal.
In midfield, teenagers Marc Bernal and Xavi Espart are expected to step up. Defensively, João Cancelo may drop to the bench for Alejandro Balde due to limited training, leaving Andreas Christensen and Gerard Martín to anchor the backline ahead of goalkeeper Joan García.
Form
Elche
Elche CF enters this fixture seeking consistency under new manager Martín Anselmi. They opened their La Liga campaign on Monday with a dominant but frustrating 1-1 away draw against newly-promoted Deportivo La Coruña. Despite controlling the statistics, they relied on a 75th-minute equalizer from Marc Aguado. Looking further back, Elche boasts a robust seven-game unbeaten home league streak at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, proving difficult to break down on their own turf.
Barcelona
Defending champions FC Barcelona make their highly anticipated season debut tonight. Delayed by summer tournament commitments, Hansi Flick’s side carries great momentum into the new term after securing a staggering 31 wins to claim the title last season. The Blaugrana sharp-tuned their preparations in mid-August with strong pre-season friendly showings, including a high-scoring 5-2 victory over FC Basel and a 2-1 win against Al Ahly to lift the Trofeo Joan Gamper.
Predicted lineups
Elche: Dituro; Chust, Redondo, Affengruber; Sangare, Villar, Aguado, Valera; Houary, Nino, Cepeda
Barcelona: J Garcia; E Garcia, Christensen, Martin, Balde; Espart, Bernal; Yamal, Raphinha, Gordon; Abdelkarim
How to watch Elche vs Barcelona?
In the UK, you can watch the Elche CF vs. FC Barcelona match live on Premier Sports 1.
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