Barcelona fan-favourite forward set to start in the Catalan derby vs Espanyol – report

In a little over a week, Barcelona will resume their La Liga campaign when they host local rivals RCD Espanyol at Spotify Camp Nou on December 31.

And, ahead of the Catalan derby, Javi Miguel of AS is reporting that young forward Ansu Fati is set to be given a starting berth by manager Xavi Hernandez.

The 20-year-old has had a stop-start campaign thus far as Xavi and the coaching staff opted to err on the side of caution with the La Masia graduate following his injury ordeals over the past couple of seasons.

So, even though Fati has played in all of Barcelona’s 20 matches thus far this season, he has started just five matches across all competitions. He has managed a return of three goals and three assists so far.

Given Fati’s situation, his call-up to the Spain squad for the FIFA World Cup came as a surprise. However, the youngster was not used a great deal by Luis Enrique in Qatar.

Now back at the club, Fati will be hoping to become more of a regular fixture in Xavi’s plans. The manager is also said to believe that the Barça academy graduate will have a key role to play in the second half of the season.

Given Robert Lewandowski’s three-match suspension, it was going to open up a window of opportunity for other forwards to get a look-in. However, the report indicates that Fati will not be replacing the Poland superstar as Barcelona’s striker.

Instead, the plan is to utilise the young fan favourite on the left flank, with either of Ferran Torres or Memphis Depay slotting in as the striker. Raphinha, who returned to training yesterday, could occupy the right wing against Espanyol.

The last time Fati started was in the Blaugrana’s final UEFA Champions League group-stage game against Viktoria Plzen, where he started through the middle. However, that will not be the case against Espanyol, as per the report.

Despite his situation, Xavi is understood to have total faith in Fati and the manager is prepared to give him the necessary boost so that the youngster can recover his confidence and return to his best levels. And it starts with a place in the lineup against Espanyol.