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Barcelona vs Mallorca: LaLiga prediction, team news, lineups, how to stream and watch on TV

AP
AP

Barcelona face Mallorca on Saturday evening knowing they must keep pace with Real Madrid.

With the rearranged Clasico ever-approaching - it will the final match before the winter break - Spain's big two are level on points.

Real Madrid are again in action earlier, hosting Barca's local rivals Espanyol at midday, with both expected to record big wins.

The match is on Saturday, December 7. Kick-off is at 8pm BST.

Team news and lineups

Arthur and Ansu Fati have both been left out of Barcelona’s squad after being absent from the final training session on Friday.

Both players could return for Tuesday night’s Champions League clash away to Inter Milan, but with Group F already won, Saturday’s La Liga match will be the priority for coach Ernesto Valverde.

Valverde will decide between Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal to fill Arthur’s place in midfield, while there could be a rare opportunity from the bench for Carles Alena.

Winger Ousmane Dembele is sidelined for 10 weeks with a thigh injury picked up in the 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund late in November, so Antoine Griezmann should start with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez against Mallorca.

Messi, who won his sixth Ballon d'Or on Monday night in Paris, will present the award to the Camp Nou ahead of Saturday's game.

With Dembele and Ansu Fati out, Carles Perez also returns to the squad and should be on the bench.

How we think the sides could line up…

Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Junior Firpo; Busquets, Rakitic, De Jong; Messi, Suarez, Griezmann

Mallorca XI: Reina; Sastre, Valjent, Raillo, Gamez; Febas, Baba, Sevilla; Rodriguez, Budimir, Kubo​

(AP)
(AP)

How to stream and watch on TV

The match will be shown on LaLigaTV, available with Premier Sports as part of its channel bundle on Sky TV and the Premier Player OTT streaming service for just £11.99 per month or £99 per year (with pricing and launch date on Virgin TV to be confirmed).

You can follow all the action with Standard Sport's LIVE blog on the day with Ben Hayward.

Match prediction: Barcelona 3-0 Espanyol