Barcelona boss Neto makes his La Liga debut against Espanyol, with regular keeper Marc Ter Stegen ruled out until February.
The former Valencia player has only appeared in the Champions League for the Catalan side so far this season, following a summer move form the Estadio Mestalla, but he will be thrust into first team action in the coming weeks.
Valverde makes three other changes form their final game of 2019, a 4-1 win at home to Alaves, with Clement Lenglet in for Samuel Umtiti in defence, and Frenkie De Jong and Ivan Rakitic replacing Carles Alena and Arturo Vidal in midfield.
Former Barcelona player Abelardo Fernandez takes charge on his first game at Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium, and he makes two changes from their last game.
Javi Lopez and Naldo start, with Victor Campuzano and Esteban Granero dropping out.
ESPANYOL: D. Lopez, D. Lopez, Naldo, Didac, J. Lopez, Bernardo, Roca, V. Gomez, Darder, Melendo, Calleri
SUBS: Prieto, Pedrosa, L. Lopez, Lei, Iturraspe, Vargas, Campuzano
BARCELONA: Neto, Roberto, Lenglet, Pique, Alba, Busquets, De Jong, Rakitic, Griezmann, Messi, Suarez
SUBS: Pena, Semedo, Umtiti, Vidal, Perez, Fati, Firpo
