Espanol is always a pain on the neck for Barcelona because Barcelona finds it difficult to win them from their past head to head records. I know that Espanol will take this match to be a do or die affair, since they are already on their way to relegation.
Barcelona on the other side,has noticed that Espanol is always giving them tough time anytime that they clash,and will make sure that they prepare very well to win Espanol, so that they can have an additional three points to their score. This season has been very favourable to Barcelona and Xavi,and I don't think that defeating Espanol will be a problem to them.
Barcelona will have a meaningful derby match, this match is a decisive match for the Blaugrana while Espanyol is very ambitious to delay the victory party of their city rivals and also aiming for points to leave the relegation zone.
But for this edition of the derby, I still favor Barcelona. This season the opponents facing Barcelona are in poor performance and they are even very difficult to get out of the relegation zone. Besides that, this derby match is also the last derby for Basquest because he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season. Given that, the Barca retainer will certainly give the most beautiful farewell gift to his captain.
It was difficult for Espanyol to overthrow Barcelona even though the match was held at the RCDE Stadium, Espanyol's headquarters. although in football nothing is impossible, but currently Barcelona only needs 3 points to ensure the La Liga trophy. that means, Barcelona will not waste the opportunity to win over the home team while celebrating their victory. so, in the match later Barcelona will appear with its best performance.
well, if I refer to the predicted line-up of the two teams, both teams will play full squads. it's just that, it looks like Xavi will try to use the 4-2-3-1 system. or, as usual with 4-3-3. but I don't think it will make any difference, because Barcelona will play their full core of players. with the exception of Dembele, it is likely that he will be used in the second half.
On the other hand, Espanyol will not play openly. because, if they do that, it's tantamount to letting Barcelona easily win the match. referring to the predicted line-up, Espanyol will use a 5-3-2 system. in theory however, on paper Barcelona would win this fight. and if the scenario goes according to plan, it means that Barcelona will win the La Liga trophy. even so, we'll see how Espanyol will provide resistance to Barcelona.