Espanyol vs Barca Prediction, 02:30 May 16: The moment to be crowned king

Pre-match review

After the shock of being eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals by Inter Milan, Barca made an emotional comeback with a 4-3 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Despite being punctured twice by Kylian Mbappe in less than 20 minutes, the home team fought back strongly. Eric Garcia and young prodigy Lamine Yamal scored in turn, before Raphinha shone with a double to help Barca lead 4-2 in the first half.

Despite Mbappe completing a second-half hat-trick to reduce the deficit to 3-4, and Fermin Lopez having a goal ruled out by VAR, Barcelona held on for a valuable win. With this result, coach Hansi Flick's team are very close to winning the domestic treble in his first season in charge (Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and La Liga).

Barca are currently seven points clear of Real Madrid with just three games remaining. If Real stumble against Mallorca, Barca will be crowned La Liga champions before they even take the field against Espanyol. However, even if Los Blancos win, Barca can still claim the title themselves by beating their neighbours Espanyol.

Notably, the Catalan team is also aiming for the 100-goal mark in La Liga this season. They have now scored 95 goals in 35 matches, an average of nearly 2.7 goals per match – the best scoring record among Europe's top teams.

On the other side of the front line, Espanyol is ranked 14th on the rankings with 39 points after 35 matches (10 wins, 9 draws, 16 losses). The recent form of the home team at RCDE Stadium has made fans worried.

Since their 1-0 win over Getafe on April 18, Espanyol have only picked up one point in their last four games. They drew 1-1 with Valencia, then lost three straight games against Villarreal, Real Betis and Leganes.

In particular, the recent 2-3 loss to Leganes showed that despite Espanyol's efforts to shorten the gap with goals from Leandro Cabrera and Pere Milla, they still could not save a fragile defense.

Currently, coach Manolo Gonzalez and his team are still at risk of relegation, although they are 5 points above the "red light" group. The remaining schedule is not easy either, as they face Barcelona, ​​Osasuna and Las Palmas.

Form, head-to-head history

Hansi Flick's side are in impressive form in La Liga, winning 14 of their last 15 games and all five of their last away games. Not only that, Barcelona are also unbeaten in their last 27 La Liga derbies against Espanyol (W20 D7).

In the first leg, Barca defeated Espanyol 3-1 in just the first 31 minutes, thanks to a double from Dani Olmo and a goal from Raphinha.

However, Espanyol still have reason to hope when playing at home at RCDE, where they have lost just one of their last 11 La Liga matches (W4 D6). However, that only defeat came in their most recent home match against Real Betis.

The last time Espanyol won against Barca in La Liga was more than 15 years ago, with a score of 2-1 right at Camp Nou in February 2009.

Force situation

Espanyol continue to be without left-back Brian Olivan due to a calf injury sustained in late March. However, the good news for the home team is that midfielder Pol Lozano has returned to training and could be included in the starting lineup. Right-back Omar El Hilali has also completed his suspension and is ready to play.

Barcelona will be without centre-back Inigo Martinez through suspension, while Marc Bernal, Jules Kounde and Pablo Torre are still recovering from injuries. Young defender Alejandro Balde could return to the starting line-up after coming off the bench against Real Madrid. Robert Lewandowski remains a major doubt due to a hamstring problem.

Expected lineup

Espanyol (4-3-3): Garcia; El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero; Exposito, Gonzalez, Lozano; Jofre, Puado, Roberto

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Garcia, Christensen, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres

Score prediction: Espanyol 1-3 Barcelona

Trong Dat

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhan-dinh-espanyol-vs-barca-02h30-ngay-165-thoi-khac-xung-vuong-post1742197.tpo