Predicted Barcelona lineup against Elche

Xavi’s tenure at Barcelona has been far from promising up to this point. Six games in, Barça’s only decent performance came against Benfica, and even that can be considered lucky.

They managed to get wins against Espanyol and Villarreal, but by Xavi’s own confession, Barça were arguably the second-best team in both games.

Heading into the weekend, Barcelona sit 8th in the La Liga table, three points off any European place spots, and five away from UCL spots. A win tomorrow against Elche will go a long way into determining where the team ends up come the last matchday of the season.

However, the squad is marred with injuries at the moment. The starting trident in attack — Memphis Depay, Ansu Fati, and Martin Braithwaite — are all sidelined. Pedri and Sergi Roberto, too, are out for the rest of the year.

In the light of the same, choosing an XI becomes increasingly tougher for Xavi. This is how we predict Barça will line up on Sunday night.

Defence

Despite being constantly underwhelming, Marc-Andre ter Stegen will start between the posts tomorrow. His position is pretty much under no threat, but one hopes he can make a couple of saves tomorrow.

Gerard Pique picked up five yellow cards and will miss the clash against Elche. He will be replaced by Clement Lenglet in the heart of the three-man backline.

Samuel Umtiti will likely continue after a mixed outing against Osasuna. Eric Garcia would have been a contender for this game, but the Spaniard is clearly not in Xavi’s plans.

Finally, Ronald Araujo will be as important a presence as ever. The Uruguayan has been one of the only constant performers at the club this season, and with no wins in three games, the onus will be on him to help guide Barça to a clean sheet.

Midfield

Xavi deployed a Johann Cruyff-style diamond against Osasuna, and do not expect too many changes on that front, except maybe one. Gavi is one yellow card away from suspension and could miss the game against Sevilla if he continues his old ways.

As such, benching him will probably be the right move from Xavi. Riqui Puig was fantastic against Boca Juniors during the friendly, which might have helped him earn the confidence of the manager. He’ll take up the attacking midfield role tomorrow.

Behind him, Nico and Frenkie de Jong continue as pseudo-wingbacks. Their role will be to provide width out of possession to open up more passing options while attacking centrally with the ball.

Sergio Busquets, too, is a yellow away from suspension. However, he has no like-for-like replacement in the midfield and will start tomorrow. A goal or two before the 60th-minute mark and the captain can be safely subbed off.

Attack

Ez Abde was a revelation in attack vs Osasuna. He scored the second goal for Barça and was a menace for the opposition defence before being substituted late in the game. He will be critical against Elche’s packed middle block.

Fans have come not to expect much from Luuk de Jong. The Dutch striker is barely in sync with the rest of the attack but managed to put in a half-defence shift last weekend. He’ll continue as the spearhead of the attack in the absence of other forwards.

Finally, contract rebel Ousmane Dembele wraps up our predicted XI. The Frenchman was subbed off after an injury against Osasuna, but there have been no updates on his medical situation, which probably means he is available to play. Or at least one can hope.

Substitutes

Oscar Mingueza has been a regular off the bench under Xavi, albeit at left-back. He could be brought on tomorrow, too, but this time in a position of his preference.

Sergino Dest, on the contrary, has barely seen the green of the grass recently. He played more than an hour in the Maradona cup and will get minutes to add an offensive boost to the team.

Speaking of the midweek outing, Ferran Jutgla managed to register himself on the scoresheet and will look to build on the same when and if he does get the chance to perform tomorrow night.