Luis Enrique’s side made light work of Eibar in their most recent top-flight match last time out, as goals from Denis Suarez, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar secured a 4-0 victory for the visitors to the Basque Country. A 5-2 defeat of Real Sociedad on Thursday night made it five successive wins for Barcelona in all competitions, with only two points now separating the champions from Clasico rivals Real Madrid at the summit of the standings - although it is worth bearing in mind that Zinedine Zidane’s men have a game in hand against Valencia to come. Barca have certainly given themselves a glimmer of hope in their last few league outings, but they still cannot afford many more slip-ups between now and the end of the campaign in May.
Real Betis’ 0-0 draw with relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon last Sunday means the Verdiblancos have now emerged victorious from only one of their last five encounters in La Liga and the Copa del Rey. A nine-point gap between Victor Sanchez’s side and the relegation zone provides some comfort, though, with Betis likely to be looking up towards the top half of the table rather than over their shoulders at the bottom three despite a rather disappointing recent run of form. The hosts will look to make life difficult for Barca on Sunday, although that is never as easy as it sounds.
Luis Enrique will be forced to make do without Rafinha (hamstring), Sergio Busquets (ankle) and Andres Iniesta (calf) for his side’s game in Seville. The Barcelona boss will stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation, with a front line of Messi, Neymar and Suarez set to be supported by a midfield of three players from Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Arda Turan, Javier Mascherano and Ivan Rakitic. At the back, Samuel Umtiti could partner Gerard Pique if Mascherano is deployed in the engine room instead of the heart of the backline, while full-backs Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto will look to provide attacking width high up the pitch.
Real Betis, meanwhile, will be unable to call upon the services of Antonio Sanabria (thigh), Jose Carlos (groin), Felipe Gutierrez (knee) and Dark Brasanac (shoulder), but Charly Musonda has resumed full training following a knee injury. Victor Sanchez prefers a 5-3-2 formation and will hope that additional cover in defence is enough to halt Barcelona’s attacking firepower, while Dani Ceballos will be one the men tasked with carrying the ball forward on the counter-attack when possession changes hands.
On balance, it is difficult to look past another Barcelona triumph on Sunday afternoon; the Catalan club possess plenty of quality across the pitch and should have too much for Real Betis in attacking areas. An away win with both teams to score looks like an astute option, while Luis Suarez is the obvious choice to find the back of the net before any other player.
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