Barcelona vs Espanyol: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

Barcelona welcome their city rivals Espanyol to Camp Nou for the first Catalan derby of the season on Saturday evening.

Xavi Hernandez has finally been extracted from his contract at Al-Sadd in time for his first ever match as Barcelona manager to be in a derby that he knows very well from his playing days, having made a record 36 appearances in the fixture - winning 25 and losing just two.

Here's all you need to know about the homecoming of Barcelona's anointed saviour.

How to watch Barcelona vs Espanyol on TV/live stream

When is kick off? Saturday 20 November, 20:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Camp Nou
What TV channel is it on? Premier Sports 2/LaLiga TV (UK), ESPN+ (US), TSN (Canada)
Highlights? La Liga YouTube channel (UK)
Referee? TBC
VAR? TBC

Barcelona team news

Barcelona's last game before the international break encapsulated the malaise the club have sunk into. Leading 3-0 at half-time, the Blaugrana shipped a trio of goals after the interval as Celta Vigo earned a famous point. Barcelona not only lost two points in the second half, but three players to injury.

Encouragingly, Eric Garcia and Nico Gonzalez have returned to full training since but the brightest prospect in Barça's squad - Ansu Fati - is set to be sidelined until mid-December with a hamstring problem.

Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto and Pedri have all also been spotted back on the pitch at Barcelona's training complex but no timeframe has been put on the returns for Sergino Dest (back) and the chronically unavailable Ousmane Dembele (hamstring).

Sergio Aguero continues to be sidelined by his heart problem, for which he is undergoing tests which will keep him out of action until February at the very earliest.

Read Barcelona's predicted lineup here.

Espanyol team news

The decidedly secondary team in Barcelona has been comparatively spared a spate of absentees. Midfielder Keidi Bare is likely to miss out with a knee injury while the prolonged absence of defender Oscar Gil opens the door for the return of a past Barcelona player, Aleix Vidal, to Camp Nou.

Espanyol predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Lopez; Vidal, Gomez, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Morlanes, Darder; Melamed, Melendo, Embarba; De Tomas

Barcelona vs Espanyol head-to-head record

La Liga's most frequent and predictable local derby has seen Barcelona claim an overwhelming majority of victories in this fixture (124 in 212 games across all competitions), with an almost suffocating dominance on home soil.

Espanyol can boast one measly league victory at Camp Nou since 1982, scoring just twice in their last 11 visits, all of which have been defeats.

Incidentally, Xavi was on the pitch the last time Espanyol inflicted a league defeat on Barcelona home or away, all the way back in February 2009.

Barcelona vs Espanyol score prediction

The historical standings point towards an obvious winner, but cast in its contemporary setting this is a meeting between the ninth and 11th best sides in La Liga, both locked on the middling tally of 17 points.

Despite the seismic loss of Lionel Messi in the summer, Barcelona haven't desperately struggled in attack, boasting the second-best expected goals tally in La Liga this term, but are strikingly average at the other end of the pitch.

It will take longer than a few sparsely attended training sessions for Xavi to restore the Blaugrana to their former glories, but beating your newly promoted local rivals wouldn't be a bad place to start.

Prediction: Barcelona 2-1 Espanyol