PREVIEW | Las Palmas v FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona arrive in the Canary Islands for their game against Las Palmas as leaders of La Liga thanks a run of four straight wins in the league. Diego Martínez's team got the best of Barça at the Estadi Olímpic back in November in the league and another victory against Hansi Flick's team would help in their battle to move away from the relegation zone as they are currently it is only goal difference that is keeping them out of the bottom three.
Leaders in form
Barça's win over Rayo Vallecano on Monday combined with dropped points for both Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid allowed Hansi Flick's team to move back to the top of La Liga for the first time in almost two months. In the last month Barça have strung together a run of four straight wins in the competition with Pedri and Lamine Yamal in great form and a Robert Lewandowski currently leading the race to be pichichi come the end of the season, and looking for his first goal against Las Palmas as a blaugrana.
Culers on alert
Barça may be in excellent form in the league but they will not have forgotten the 2-1 defeat suffered at the end of November in the league against Las Palmas. The game came in the midst of the Club's celebrations for its 125th anniversary with Diego Martínez's team rather spoiling the party by taking all three points in the Estadi Olímpic. Five defeats and a draw in their last six matches have seen Las Palmas slide down the table and ahead of Saturday's game they find themselves in 17th place in the table on 23 points, above 18th placed Valencia on goal difference and just a point above second to bottom Alavés.
Hansi Flick's team can take confidence from recent visits to the Estadio Gran Canaria where they have picked up points on their last eight visits. Last season Ilkay Gündoğan's late winner gave Barça all three points and maintained their record of not having lost in Las Palmas in the league since 1986.
The goalscorers from Las Palmas' victory earlier in the season in Barcelona, former blaugrana Sandro Ramírez and Fábio Silva, are the threat going forward for the home side having scored seven goals each so far this season. However, both strikers have struggled with injuries in recent weeks and it remains to be seen if one, both or neither start the game on Saturday. Aside from Sandro, former blaugranes Jasper Cillessen, Mika Mármol and Marc Cardona all form part of Diego Martínez's squad.
The trip to Las Palmas is the first of 14 games remaining in the league for Barça and with the title race so tight at the moment, every point could turn out to be vital come the end of the season.