Eibar vs Barça: Preview

The leaders face a tough trip to the Basque Country looking to return to winning ways

Eibar (7th, 35pts) vs FC Barcelona (1st, 59pts)

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Competition/Round: 2017-18 La Liga, Matchday 24

Barcelona injuries: Thomas Vermaelen

Eibar injuries: Sergi Enrich, Fran Rico

Date/Time: Saturday, February 17th, 2018, 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 10.15am EST, 7.15am PST (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)

Venue: Estadio Municipal de Ipurua, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain

Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández

How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA, Canada, Spain), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), SONY TEN 2 (India), others

How to stream: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA, Canada, Spain), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

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After a full week of rest and training following last week’s disappointing draw against Getafe, Barcelona should be feeling fresh and ready to return to winning ways when they travel to the Basque Country for a tough La Liga match against Eibar. The Blaugrana have been fairly successful away to Eibar, but playing in their tiny stadium filled with some crazy, crazy, crazy fans is never easy.

Ernesto Valverde and his men definitely do not want a second poor result in a row, not only to keep their great distance to Atlético Madrid but also avoid a dip in confidence ahead of Tuesday’s giant Champions League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Facing a very good team away from home at a tough ground in the Basque Country will be a good preparation to face a very good team away from home at a tough ground in London, so a win is really, really important on Saturday.

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POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-4-2): Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Vidal, Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho; Messi, Suárez

Eibar (4-4-2): Dmitrovic; Peña, Ramis, Arbilla, Ángel; Orellana, Diop, García, Inui; Charles, Kike

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PREDICTION

A trip to Eibar is always tough, but we’ll get the job done with a good game: 2-0 to the leaders.

Source: barcablaugranes.com