Following the international break, Barcelona are set to square off against Deportivo Alaves in La Liga this Saturday and the Catalan giants will surely be looking to maintain their 100% start to the season with a victory from the encounter.
Although it was not pretty, Barcelona managed to claim a 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in their previous domestic league game and the triumph away against such a tough side can most certainly be seen as a real positive for the Blaugrana.
Now Barcelona prepare for a clash against Deportivo Alaves this weekend and although Luis Enrique’s men head into the clash as overwhelming favourites, the defending champions most certainly cannot afford to be complacent against a side which perform well so far this season.
Here is the strongest possible Barcelona lineup for the clash against Deportivo Alaves –
Goalkeeper
Marc-Andre ter Stegen shook off a slight knock to feature in Barcelona’s 1-0 triumph over Athletic Bilbao before the international break and following the departure of Claudio Bravo to Manchester City, it looks like the German international is the undisputed number one for the Catalans despite the arrival of Jasper Cillessen.
Defence
At the back, the combination of Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti has looked extremely impressive so far and it is expected that the duo will continue in the starting lineup, with Javier Mascherano having to do with a place on the bench once again.
Jordi Alba is a certain starter at left-back while Sergi Roberto looks set to continue at an unconventional right-back position ahead of Aleix Vidal following a number of decent performances over the past few weeks.
Midfield
Andres Iniesta remains an injury doubt for the encounter which means that Denis Suarez will be starting in midfield once again and alongside the youngster, the experienced duo of Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic will be the men marshalling things at the middle of the park.
New signing Andre Gomes is believed to be close to a return to full fitness soon but it seems unlikely that the Portuguese international will be handed a start this weekend.
Attack
Barcelona were dealt with a huge blow due to a groin injury suffered by star man Lionel Messi and the Catalans may not choose to risk the 29-year-old from the start on Saturday as a result.
While the loss of Messi is surely a big one, Barcelona have been boosted by the return of Neymar from international duty and the Olympic champion will be lining up alongside the duo of Luis Suarez and Arda Turan to form a deadly attack.
(4-3-3)
Via – Lineup Builder
