Barcelona managed to finally establish a sizeable six point lead at the top of the La Liga table following their comfortable 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon in midweek and the Catalan giants would have been relieved at finally creating a bit of breathing space between themselves and the chasing pack.
That said, manager Luis Enrique will surely not allow his players to take their foot off the pedal anytime soon as the deficit will easily be reduced at the slightest of slip ups.
Now Barcelona prepare for a trip to Estadio de Gran Canaria to square off against Las Palmas on Saturday and the match is certain to be a tricky encounter for the champions despite the Los Amarillos’ lowly position in the table.
Here is the Strongest Possible Barcelona Lineup against Las Palmas –
Goalkeeper
Claudio Bravo is set to be handed a rest in the midweek Champions League encounter against Arsenal and as a result, the goalkeeper is sure to feature against Las Palmas this weekend.
Bravo has been called upon to make a couple of crucial saves over the past few matches and the Chilean international will once again have to be on his guard against Las Palmas on Saturday.
Defence
There was a major reshuffle at the back for Barcelona against Sporting Gijon as the likes of Aleix Vidal, Jeremy Mathieu and Adriano were handed rare starts alongside the regular centre back Gerard Pique.
Luis Enrique will have one eye on the upcoming Champions League clash against Arsenal in midweek and as a result, the fringe trio could well be handed another chance to impress this weekend in the encounter with Las Palmas.
Thomas Vermaelen is also in contention after not featuring last time out and he could well replace Gerard Pique in the starting lineup on Saturday.
Midfield
Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets are expected to be handed rests this weekend with the Champions League encounter in mind and as a result, the duo of Sergi Roberto and Arda Turan look likely to start at the middle of the park against Las Palmas.
Ivan Rakitic is expected to start against Arsenal but the Croatian international will probably be used this weekend as well by Enrique in a bid to bring about more balance to the starting lineup.
Attack
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez have been scoring for fun over the past few weeks and also getting all the headlines for their improvised penalty routines.
Messi and Suarez along with Neymar, will be lining up in attack for Barcelona once again and the trio are sure to give the Las Palmas backline a hard time on the day.
(4-3-3)
Via – Lineup Builder
