Barcelona- Espanyol derby promises full commitment from both sides

Suarez and Messi

Madrid, Dec 6 (IANS) FC Barcelona can expect a difficult outing when they entertain local rivals Espanyol in the Camp Nou Stadium in Sunday's Catalan derby.

Although, Espanyol have yet to win a league match outside of their Cornella-El Prat Stadium, Barcelona derbies tend to be tight and physical affair and Espanyol will look to sit deep and use the pace of Sergio Garcia to hurt their rivals on the break, reports Xinhua.

Barcelona coach, Luis Enrique's men appear to have recovered from defeats against Real Madrid and Celta with triumphs against Sevilla and Valencia.

At times Barca's football has failed to convince, but when that has been the case Neymar, Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez have so far been able to make vital contributions, although last week it was Sergio Busquets who scored a crucial last minute winner in Valencia.

Busquets will make his 300th appearance for Barca Sunday and will form part of a familiar looking midfield alongside Xavi Hernandez, who was rested for the 4-0 Cup win in Huesca Wednesday, and either Ivan Rakitic or fit-again Andres Iniesta.

Meanwhile, the attacking trident of Messi, Suarez and Neymar is starting to gel as each begins to assume their roles in attack, Messi has started to recover his best form, while Neymar has already scored 13 goals this campaign just two short of the 15 he scored in all of last season.

Luis Enrique is still looking for his best defensive combination but it seems likely Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique will line-up against Espanyol with Jordi Alba on the left and Dani Alves on the right.