How will Barcelona line up against Sevilla in their next La Liga match?

Barcelona will look to rebound from a painful European defeat to PSG in midweek and head into the international break on top of the La Liga standings as the Blagrana head to Seville to face historic rivals Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.

The Catalans have won their last four in the league and will remain top of the table with a fifth victory in a row, but are missing some key pieces and will face a Sevilla side off to a solid start this season and who are always very difficult to beat at home.

Here’s how we think Hansi Flick will line up his troops for Sunday’s battle:

Defense

One of the undiscussed storylines of this early Barcelona season is the worrying form of Pau Cubarsí: the young center-back has struggled massively without his partner from last season in Iñigo Martínez, and his usual composure on the ball and decisive tackling have been absent in most of his appearances so far.

The other three center-back in Barça’s squad have played consistently better than Cubarsí, so we think Eric García will retain his place in the XI for this one and will start alongside Ronald Araujo in the middle. Alejandro Balde returned from injury against PSG and unfortunately was to blame for the winning goal by the visitors, but he needs playing time and we think he gets it on Sunday with a start at left-back. Jules Kounde will keep his place at right-back against his former team, and Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal again.

Midfield

Barça lost the midfield battle in midweek and a big reason why was their best midfielders ran out of gas: Pedri was asbolutely exhausted and had to be replaced after 75 minutes, and we think the Wizard would benefit massively from a rest in this one. So we will try to will a start for Marc Casadó into existence even though that’s unlikely, with Frenkie de Jong and Dani Olmo completing the central trio.

Attack

Lamine Yamal will miss this weekend’s match and the next 2-3 weeks after reaggravating his groin issue, so Barça will be without him and Raphinha for this one. That leaves only three starter-caliber options available, so we think Marcus Rashford will start on the right, Ferran Torres will move to the left wing, and Robert Lewandowski will lead the line. Roony Bardghji started last week and looked good for an hour, but we think the young winger will begin this one on the bench.

Possible XI: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Eric, Balde; Casadó, De Jong; Rashford, Olmo, Ferran; Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)

How do you think Barcelona should line up against Sevilla? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!