Barcelona vs Alaves: preview, likely lineups and fantasy tips

We show the likely lineups and statistical data of interest for your preferred fantasy game.

We also take a bit of a punt and provide you with a captain, a striker, a wall and a risk for each of the teams.

Barcelona - Deportivo Alavés

Match date: 31/10-21:00

FC Barcelona

Tricky match this Saturday at the Camp Nou. Fútbol Club Barcelona arrive loaded with doubts after a bad week and urgently need to pick up points and good feelings on the doorstep of a month that has traditionally not gone well for them, like November; we’ll see whether the slump is temporary or whether things go further.

Lately, Flick’s side has suffered from a lack of freshness in the legs of some of its players, and we’ll see how the absences affect things from now on, especially in defence, where they will not be able to call on Éric García, Christensen, Kounde and Xavi Espart, who, as of today, are sharing the treatment room with Dani Olmo and Roony Bardghji.

The Hansi Flick dilemma, after a week with no matches, will be whether to field the usual starters to seek their revenge and redemption, or to give an opportunity to the less regulars to shake up the tree. We assume the decision will land somewhere between the two options, but with more numbers for the first, and there won’t be many changes compared to the team that dropped the three points last Sunday.

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Deportivo Alavés

Another disappointing home result for the babazorros, where they could only scrape a draw against the bottom side, Málaga, who were even ahead for most of the match on the scoreboard. Now the team faces two very tough away trips before the next international break, with a first visit to Barcelona, where last season they lost 3-1.

Quique has no absences beyond the long-term ones. The main doubts in the starting XI would be in defence, which we believe will revert to a back five, in the support for Pablo Ibáñez and Antonio Blanco, and in the poor moment of Toni Martínez. A very difficult match in which we would bet on using as few Albiazul players as possible.

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