Barcelona will be travelling to Valencia for a La Liga tie on Saturday, October 22nd. Barcelona were defeated at home the last time the two teams played against each other, and they will surely hold a grudge against the hosts here. Barcelona will also want to try and stay relevant at the top spots of the league, as they have already fallen 2 points behind Real and Atletico Madrid at the top spots.
Barcelona (5-2-1) have had what appears to be a successful season so far, but with a couple of dark spots. Losing to newly-promoted Alaves at home last month, and also a 3-4 loss to Celta earlier in October have cost them the top spot of the league. They are sitting at the 3rd spot with 16 points, 2 points behind the two Madrid teams. Barcelona do have the best offense in the league with 26 goals, but it’s their defense that has cost them several points so far. On the other hand, Barcelona have been doing great in the Champions League, as they recorded their 3rd victory in the Group against Manchester City with a dominant 0-4 mid-week. While some players might be carrying some fatigue, the morale boost by such a huge win should boost them enough to take revenge for that loss against Valencia last April. The truth is that Barcelona haven’t played any very hard matches on the road yet (3-1-0), but they have also been stunned by the two newly promoted teams at home. Barcelona won’t be able to rely on the services of defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique, and goalkeeper Jasper Cilessen who are injured.
On the other hand, Valencia (3-5-0) have somewhat stabke the past month after starting the season with 4 straight losses. Valencia have never had such a terrible start in the recent decades, but they seem to have gotten over it by now. They have won 3 out of their last 4 matches, all with a scoreline of 2-1. in between those wins they had lost to Atletico Madrid by 2-0 at home, but Valencia will surely balance things out soon. However, having to play against Barcelona is surely a herculian task, especially since Valencia have defeated Barcelona on the road the last time the two teams met (April 17th). The last time that Valencia defeated Barcelona at home was back in 2008 for the Spanish Cup, while the previous league win dates back to 2007. All in all, Valencia haven’t won at home against Barcelona in their last 10 matches (0-3-7), but still managed to take 7 draws. Valencia will be having almost all their players available for this important clash, however Nani has been injured in his lower abdomen and it is still uncertain whether he will be able to participate or not.