Xavi has already decided Barcelona’s starting lineup for Real Sociedad clash

Following the defeat to Real Madrid last Saturday, Barcelona will be eager to produce a strong reaction and bounce back to winning ways when they take on Real Sociedad away at Anoeta this weekend.

The trip to the Basque club will not be easy by any means but Barça will have added motivation to try and close the gap to the top after the slip-up in the first El Clasico of the season.

Furthermore, Xavi Hernandez is expected to recover both Pedri and Frenkie de Jong in time for the match, leaving Sergi Roberto as the only injury-enforced absentee for the Blaugrana.

Xavi has already decided the starting XI

Now, according to Javi Miguel of AS, Barcelona manager Xavi has already decided the starting lineup he will be fielding against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The Barça boss is aware that his team cannot afford to drop points, knowing that they have already moved down to fourth position in the La Liga table, owing to Girona and Atletico Madrid’s results.

As such, Xavi sees the game against Real Sociedad as a ‘final’ and will not be making many rotations and instead look to name his strongest starting lineup.

The idea is to make the most of any fatigue Imanol Alguacil’s side might have from their midweek cup clash by putting the best possible team on the pitch from the start.

As such, Xavi plans to start with the centre-back pairing of Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen, with the former moving back to his natural position after playing at right-back against Real Madrid.

Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde ought to occupy the full-back positions with Marc-Andre ter Stegen lining up in goal.

No changes are expected in midfield with Xavi likely to stick with Ilkay Gundogan, Gavi, and Fermin Lopez from the start, meaning Oriol Romeu is left on the bench again.

In attack, Robert Lewandowski is expected to start as the centre-forward flanked by Ferran Torres and Joao Felix.

Minutes off the bench for Pedri, Frenkie

The report further adds that even though Pedri and Frenkie de Jong are likely to make the squad list, they will only feature as substitutes.

This goes in line with reports suggesting that the Dutchman will be playing a maximum of 20 minutes against Sociedad.

The likes of Raphinha, Jules Kounde, and Lamine Yamal are also expected to feature off the bench.