With Girona and Real Madrid both winning on Saturday, Barcelona are under pressure to pick up three points of their own when they host Alaves at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Sunday.
The Catalans are under further pressure after back-to-back poor performances against Real Sociedad and Shakhtar Donetsk, so a win and dominating display will be required against their Basque counterparts.
The big news for Barcelona is that Pedri is in line to start his first match since August. Marca say that he will be joined in midfield by Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan, with Fermin Lopez benched and Gavi suspended.
Lamine Yamal is also set for his first start since the victory over Shakhtar in October, while a centre-back partnership of Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo is also expected.
Alaves snapped a seven-match winless run when they defeated Almeria last weekend, and they will be hoping to take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding their hosts to get another positive result. On-loan forward Samu Omorodion is set to start, and could cause problems for the Barcelona backline.
While it is imperative that Barcelona pick up victory on Sunday afternoon, a good performance is equally as important for Xavi Hernandez’s side. This added pressure could make things complicated, and Alaves will look to take advantage of any uncertainty.
