Barcelona
The team lost surprisingly the maneuver of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, being surprised by Espanyol with a goal in the final.
The moment form is very good because it excludes the match from the cup, definitely won the last 4 games.
In the championship it has a considerable advantage, 11 points more, and I expect all the players’ attention to be touched upon this match.
I do not think Valverde can afford to rest a player in this confrontation, the cup being another important goal of the Catalans.

Espanyol
After defending the match and only 28% possession, Espanyol managed to hit the Melendo goal in the 88th minute.
The moment is very good because in the last 5 games it has 3 wins, one draw and one defeat, and the opponents were not accessible.
What interests me is the fact that in these 5 games the team only scored 4 goals, 3 of which were received in the last round of the championship in the match against Sevilla.
He is quite modest in the championship because after 20 matches he has only won 24 points and is thus in 14th place. He scored 16 goals and received 25.

Direct meetings
The Catalan Derby has a long history since both teams play in La Liga every year. Lately, Espanyol has suffered some ugly defeats, with Barcelona dominating, of course, victories. In 2017 Barcelona beat 3-0 and 5-0, but Espanyol managed to surprise it in this round of the quarterfinals.

My tip: Barcelona vs Espanyol
Even after a 1-0 victory over Espanyol, Barcelona is also a big favorite to qualify and I think she has a great chance to do that
Espanyol is likely to tackle the same tactic of defending himself in the hope that he will be able to finish without a goal, but it is hard to believe.
Barcelona is no longer the team last season because their attack is no longer at the same level. Now the defense is more accurate and the attack marks exactly what it takes to win, most of the goals being scored by Suarez and Messi.
I think in this match Espanyol managed to defend the gate quite well and maybe even will finish the first half without receiving the goal.
That’s why I said, Barcelona is also favorite to qualify, but I do not think it will score more than 4 goals.

Our Prediction: Under 4,5 goals @ 1.50