FC Barcelona (1st, 34pts) vs UD Las Palmas (17th, 12pts)*
*Standings at time of writing
Competition/Round: 2024-25 La Liga, Matchday 14
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati, Andreas Christensen, Marc Casadó, Marc Bernal (out), Iñigo Martínez, Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal (doubt)
Las Palmas Outs & Doubts: None
Date/Time: Saturday, November 30, 2024, 2pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 1pm GMT (UK), 8am ET, 5am PT (USA), 6.30pm IST (India)
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Montjuïc, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Adrián Cordero Vega
VAR: Mateo Busquets Ferrer
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), SuperSport (Nigeria), Premier Sports 1 (UK), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), GXR World (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a dominant victory over Brest in Champions League action in midweek, Barcelona return to La Liga play for a must-win game against Las Palmas at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on a rare Saturday afternoon early kickoff for the league leaders.
Barça come into this one on the back of an excellent performance at home to win their fourth straight European game and solidify their spot in the Top 8, and now the Blaugrana will focus on regaining their best form in domestic action after two games without a win against Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo.
The five points dropped in those two games have set Barça back some in the early stages of the title race, so the Catalans have to win as many games as possible over the next month to finish 2024 still on top of the table and with a somewhat comfortable advantage over their rivals.
Saturday looks on paper like an easy game against a team down at the bottom of the table, but Las Palmas are one of the most dangerous teams you haven’t heard much about: they have a Top 10 attack that creates plenty of chances even against the best defenses in the league, and rarely goes a game without scoring at least once. Their problem is at the back, with a leaky defense that isn’t particularly fast and concedes big chances.
This promises to be a high-scoring affair that should go Barça’s way if the Blaugrana are efficient up front, but they can’t take the game for granted. Las Palmas have enough speed and smarts in attack to create dangerous chances against Barça’s offside trap, so it won’t be a surprise at all to see them finding the net if the Catalans give them opportunities.
This should be fun.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Peña; Fort, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Gavi, Pedri; Raphinha, Olmo, Fermín; Lewandowski
Las Palmas (4-3-3): Cillessen; Viti, Suarez, McKenna, Muñoz; Campaña, Muñoz, Rodríguez; Fuster, Sandro, Moleiro
PREDICTION
I like Barça in this one given they’ll be at home and hungry to end their league slump, but Las Palmas are dangerous and might make this a stressful game at times: 3-1 to the good guys.