Saturday’s La Liga action rounds off at the Visit Mallorca Estadi as mid-table Mallorca take on high-flying Barcelona.
It’s been a topsy-turvy ride for Javier Aguirre’s team in La Liga this season, but the prospects of making it three top-flight campaigns in a row look far more promising than last term.
After taking their 2021/22 survival battle down to the wire, Los Piratas have only lost twice in their six league outings this campaign (W2, D2), welcoming September’s international break in mid-table comforts.
Mallorca bounced back from a thumping 4-1 defeat to Barcelona’s arch-rivals Real Madrid by claiming a hard-earned 1-0 home triumph over promoted Almeria on the stroke of the international break.
But having won back-to-back La Liga matches just twice in 2022, Aguirre’s men should not feel overly enthusiastic about their chances of pulling off an upset here.
Adding to this sentiment, visiting Barcelona headed into the international break on a stellar run of five consecutive La Liga victories, netting 18 goals while conceding just one in return during that sequence.
Led by talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski, the Catalan heavyweights netted at least three goals across each of those five wins, with the Pole himself tally a league-high eight goals to date.
With only two points separating Xavi Hernandez’s in-form side from table-toppers Madrid, Barca’s bid to reclaim domestic supremacy following a three-season hiatus is off and running.
Match Preview
Mallorca
Despite Mallorca’s see-saw performances across three La Liga matches at home this season (W1, D1, L1), the hosts will bank on their scoring consistency at the Visit Mallorca Estadi.
Stretching back to the tail-end of last season, Aguirre’s men have found the net in seven home league outings in a row, suggesting they may do some harm to Barcelona’s rock-solid backline.
But that’s the best the home fans can expect from their side as Mallorca are winless in their last 11 top-flight meetings with Barca (D1, L10), including nine defeats in a row since a 1-1 draw in 2010.
Barcelona
In stark contrast to Mallorca’s inconsistent showings, visiting Barcelona have been unbeaten away from home in La Liga for almost a year now, winning all three such fixtures this term by an aggregate score of 11-1.
With the pivotal visit of Inter Milan to revive their Champions League campaign and an El Clasico on the horizon, the Blaugrana will be keen to build on their best six-game start in terms of points (16) since 2017/18.
Odds-on favourites to make it happen, Barcelona have amassed a staggering 12 wins across their last 13 La Liga visits to Mallorca, with five of the most recent six seeing them keep a clean sheet.
Mallorca vs Barcelona Potential Line-ups
Mallorca (5-3-2): Predrag Rajkovic; Pablo Maffeo, Martin Valjent, Antonio Raillo, Jose Manuel Copete, Jaume Costa; Antonio Sanchez, Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Clement Grenier; Lee Kang-in, Vedat Muriqi.
Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba; Franck Kessie, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Ousmane Dembele, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha.
How to Watch?
Mallorca vs Barcelona, alongside all other Blaugrana matches this season, is available to watch live online via Barcelona live streams.
Mallorca vs Barcelona Prediction
Anything other than Barcelona’s clear-cut win would be a surprise, but we expect Lewandowski to add to his tally and help his side charge towards a ten straight H2H triumph.
Mallorca 1-3 Barcelona
