Watch: Barcelona vs Espanyol, Match Preview

Barcelona take on Espanyol at the Camp Nou in the Catalan Derby, for what will be Xavi Hernández’s first game in charge as Barcelona coach. The Camp Nou is expected to be close to full capacity for what will be a historic match in Cataluña, and the start of a brand new era at FC Barcelona.

Despite only being in charge for just over a week, there are already expectations that Xavi will have been able to change certain aspects of Barcelona’s play ahead of tomorrow’s game, and that already, the Blaugrana will be playing at a much higher level, with a necessity to start winning matches. Xavi will however have to contend with several absences for his first game in charge, especially in attack.

Espanyol on the other hand come into Saturday night’s clash with the intention of spoiling the ‘Xavi Party’, and will be motivated by their strong start to the season, as they sit level on points with Barcelona, having already beaten Real Madrid so far this campaign. Vicente Moreno’s side have been impressive collectively, but it has been newly capped Spain international Raúl de Tomás who has stolen the headlines upfront, already scoring seven goals so far this campaign.