Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou will be a man under fire when his Girona side head to La Liga leaders Barcelona for the final match of a full round of action this coming weekend.
The clash at Camp Nou at 20:45 CAT on Sunday night will see Barca’s imposing attack – featuring the likes of Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi – looking to get the better of Girona’s 27-year-old North African shot-stopper, who kept a clean sheet in their 1-0 win away to Villarreal this past weekend.
Barca’s imposing form sees them as the only team with a 100 percent record so far in Spain’s 2018/19 top flight season, but Real Madrid will look to overhaul them at the top of the log when they play at home to Espanyol on Saturday night.
Julen Lopetegui’s team dropped their first points of the season with a hard-fought 1-1 draw away to Athletic Bilbao and cannot afford a slip-up at home – even if high-flying Espanyol have been one of the more impressive teams on show in La Liga thus far.
Atletico Madrid will look to put their stuttering form behind them when they play away to Getafe on Saturday evening. The match could feature three West Africans, with the hosts able to field Djene Dakonam and Amath Ndiaye, while Atletico coach Diego Simeone could spruce up his midfield with the introduction of Ghanaian Thomas Partey.
Valencia are another heavyweight looking to find their rhythm in La Liga, but their Sunday afternoon trip to face Karl Toko-Ekambi’s Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica will be no easy match, while Levante’s band of Africans – including Emmanuel Boateng, Rapahel Dwamena and Chieck Doukoure – will look for a home triumph against Sevilla.
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The weekend’s action opens at Estadio El Alcoraz on Friday night when Huesca look to avoid a hat-trick of defeats with their home clash against Real Sociedad, and continues with the early Saturday afternoon kick-off between Rayo Vallecano – who will hope DRC midfielder Gilbert Imbula is in match-winning form again – and Mubarak Wakaso’s Deportivo Alaves.
Sofiane Boufal’s Celta de Vigo will look to continue their stay in the upper reaches of the table when they welcome Anuar Tuhami’s Real Valladolid to Abanca-Balaidos, and Papakouli Diop’s Eibar will look to extend their strong recent form when they host a Leganes team which can call on Nabil El Zhar, Youssef En-Nesyri and Allan Nyom.
The penultimate game of the weekend sees North Africans Zouhair Feddal, Ryad Boudebouz and Aissa Mandi looking to inspire Real Betis to victory at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday evening.
Key match stats
Barcelona v Girona
Head-to-Head, all competitions
Matches played 4
Barca wins 4
Girona wins 0
Draws 0
Villarreal v Valencia
Head-to-Head, all competitions
Matches played 42
Villarreal wins 17
Valencia wins 16
Draws 9
Real Madrid v Espanyol
Head-to-Head, all competitions
Matches played 50
Real wins 36
Espanyol wins 8
Draws 6
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