The champion Barcelona hosts Celta at the Camp Nou

The champion Barcelona hosts Celta at the Camp Nou with only won goal in mind – to keep the leading position in the standings. Let’s take a look in our La Liga predictions today.

Right now Barca are leading the table with 22 points, but Real Madrid and Real Sociedad are following with the same amount of points. It could have been better for Barca, but last week the Catalans were shocked with a 1-3 defeat during the visit to Levante. If we add the dissapointing 0-0 draw with Slavia Praha in the Champions League during the week, clearly Barcelona are not even close to their best shape.

Ernesto Valverde is the man who is on the hot chair right now. Barca’s manager is dealing with a lot of criticism at the moment. The way he reacts to this could be crucial about his future in the club. And about Barcelona’s season as well.

In the absence of Luis Suarez, who is injured, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele will have to shine against Celta on Saturday. The wonderkid Ansu Fati is also ready to help, if Valverde puts him on the pitch. Meanwhile Jordi Alba is also out of play, because he got injured against Slavia during the week.

Celta are a team in trouble right now. The club from Vigo is in the relegation zone, being 18th with just 9 points won so far. But there’s hope, because Celta are visiting Camp Nou with a new manager on board.

This is Barcelona’s former player Oscar Garcia, who will make his debut for Celta against his youth club. Oscar will have the task to change the way Celta performs, although starting at the Camp Nou is a pretty bad luck.

That’s our La Liga predictions for the game between Barcelona and Ceta on Saturday. Can Barca bounce back? Or their former player Oscar Garcia will trouble them?