One of the biggest fixtures on the football calendar will take place at Camp Nou on Sunday evening, with La Liga leaders Barcelona welcoming second-placed Real Madrid for El Clasico.

Real Madrid are nine points behind Barcelona in the table ahead of this contest, so a victory for the home side would see them take a huge step towards winning their first La Liga title since 2019.

Players to watch: Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski will be keen to continue his love affair with Real Madrid having contributed ten goals (G7, A3) from ten competitive H2Hs. Any response could come from Real’s talismanic striker Karim Benzema who has three direct contributions (G2, A1) across his last four LL H2Hs.

Hot stat: Barcelona have posted nine 1-0 LL wins in this campaign, but the last time it happened in this fixture at Camp Nou was November 2009.

Barcelona La Liga form:

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Barcelona form (all competitions):

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Real Madrid La Liga form:

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Real Madrid form (all competitions):

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Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; F de Jong, Busquets, Kessie; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Tchouameni, Camavinga, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius

Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid

The fact that Barcelona did not have a midweek European fixture should hand them an advantage, but Real Madrid were impressive against Liverpool and will have been boosted by their progression in the tournament.

Ancelotti’s side really need to win on Sunday night, but it is tough to back Barcelona to lose at Camp Nou, and we are ultimately expecting a tight and nervy affair to finish with the points being shared.