Valencia v Barcelona - Preview and possible lineups

Toby Craven 6 years ago 12.9k |

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Barcelona will hope to carry forward their good from after beating Tottenham in midweek. EFE

We take a look ahead to Sunday's Primera Division match between Valencia and Barcelona at La Mestalla.

Valencia: Santi Mina is still unavailable, but Jose Gaya is well enough to start after making an appearance against Manchester United on Tuesday. Denis Cheryshev, Carlos Soler and Kevin Gameiro are possibilites to start, as are Ruben Vezo and Daniel Wass.

Barcelona: Luis Suarez is a doubt after sustaining a knee problem in training. Munir El-Haddadi is the most likely direct replacement, but Ernesto Valverde could switch to a 4-4-2, potentially bringing in Arturo Vidal to bolster the midfield. Samuel Umtiti and Sergi Roberto are still unavailable, meaning there will be no change to the defensive duo of Nelson Semedo and Clement Lenglet.

Valencia manager Macelino on his side's chances against the reigning league champions:

"It would be a huge result to beat Barcelona, but we know how difficult it will be. That said, we won't be giving this match any more attention than the last or the next. We always respect our opponents no matter what they're called - we are Valencia, and we'll try and win.

"We want to win out first game at home, although we know how hard it will be. We've won less than we would have liked up until now.

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde on the challenge of Valencia:

"We know the atmosphere and opponent we're going to face. This is one of the biggest fixtures in LaLiga Santander and we have known this. They are in the Champions League for a reason. It'll be difficult, it's be a Champions League-level match.

"Football isn't mathematics, as sometimes you make a mistake and have to come back, if things don't go your way. There are a lot of potential circumstances, but we always go out to win each match. The problem is that sometimes things don't come off. That doesn't mean we'll change our approach."

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