Following the shock loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona held a dressing room meeting, in the hopes of “clearing the air.” The point of these talks, at least in the hopes of the squad, is that the side will get properly fired up from it, and get results.
Up until Tuesday night, Barca had not had a true disaster class result. They certainly have had some less-than-inspiring results this season, but they hadn’t been really bad; until now. It will be interesting to see how they respond on Sunday.
FC Barcelona vs Alaves
Kickoff: Sun. Nov 12, 16:15 CET, Olympic Stadium, Barcelona, Spain
FC Barcelona Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
La Liga Standing, Form: Alaves 14th, 12 pts, WLDDL FC Barcelona 3rd, 27 pts, WLWDW
Google Result Probability: Alaves 8% Draw 14% FC Barcelona 78%
The Catalan Club is taking on a side that is very easily beatable, but also at the same time, not an easy out. The Blaugranes are heavily favored to win this weekend.
So without any further ado, let’s get to the lineup prediction.
FC Barcelona Starting XI Prediction vs Alaves 4-3-3
Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Joao Cancelo, Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Álex Balde; Ilkay Gündogan, Oriol Romeu, Pedri; Robert Lewandowski, Ferrán Torres, João Félix.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.