Match Today: Barcelona vs Getafe 22-01-2023 Spanish League

Barcelona return to the Camp Nou this weekend with visitors to Getafe. It's a good opportunity for the Catalan giants to open up a 6-point lead at the top of La Liga, which will put more pressure on Real Madrid, who visit San Mamés shortly after this match.

Barcelona will seek to keep up the feel-good factor on Sunday night by hosting Getafe as they turn attention back into La Liga. Xavi has seen his team beat Real Betis and then Real Madrid to lift the Spanish Super Cup as well as qualify for the Copa del Rey since their last league game when they beat Atletico Madrid 1-0. They are in good form and are three points clear of their El Clásico rivals at the top of the league, winning nine and drawing one of their previous ten points in all competitions.

Barcelona have not lost in their last 17 home matches against Getafe in the Spanish League. They only have a better league record in this regard against Elche. Barcelona have not lost in their last eight home matches in the Spanish League this season, their best performance since the 2019-20 season.

After a series of five unbeaten matches in the Spanish League, Getafe lost three of its last four matches in the tournament, Barcelona managed to find the net in 15 of the last 16 matches it played in the Spanish League.

Barcelona has a good recent record against Getafe and has won 27 out of 38 matches played between the two teams, compared to Getafe's four victories.

After a run of just one point in nine La Liga matches against Barcelona, Getafe have denied Barcelona victory in two of their last four league games. The Spanish Super Cup last weekend would at least be a useful morale boost for Xavi and his team. It was also a much-needed first trophy for the Barcelona president and while it was the least important of those aiming for this season, it is certainly a good start to 2023.

Javi's performance was particularly encouraging in that match and there seems to be a greater clarity about what Barcelona's strongest eleven look like now which certainly wasn't the case a few months ago, with Frenkie de Jong also showing some promising signs Xavi seems to have found A way to get the four main midfielders on the same side and it seems to be working.

Getafe are currently 15th in the La Liga standings and have struggled so far this season, the Madrid-based side were beaten 2-1 by Espanyol last week and will need to work hard to bounce back in this game.

Barcelona, on the other hand, are top of the league table at the moment and have been impressive domestically under Xavi, thrashing the Catalan giants Ceuta 5-0 in their previous outing and they will be looking to do the same this weekend.

It is unlikely that Getafe will provide the strongest tests and this is going through after successive defeats against struggling teams such as Sevilla and Espanyol, the pressure is mounting on Kiki Sanchez Flores and the Getafe manager can at least achieve a positive performance from his team although the outcome seems unlikely.

The South Madrid side are one of four teams with 17 points from 17 games in a congested lower section of the table. They failed to build on last season's strong second half and moved into a more technical side that wasn't really planned for.

Nemanja Maksimovic looks out of favor while Mauro Arambari is injured so they have a slightly different profile of midfielders right now than we've seen from them in recent years.