Xavi has plenty of talent at his disposal comprising of one of the best squad depths in Europe. With the mega-match against Bayern Munich coming up in the middle of next week, and as Xavi has said in his pre-match press conference that lots of players are overloaded, the Barca coach might choose to rest some of his stars.
Barca's marquee signing of the summer, the 34-year-old Lewandowski scored 76 goals over the past two seasons at Bayern Munich and already has eight in five matches in all competitions with Barca.
Ferran Torres also scored Wednesday against Viktoria Plzen in their Champions League opener. The 22-year-old could build up some confidence against a Cadiz defense that has yielded 10 goals in four matches.
Barcelona averages almost seven shots on target per game, and Cadiz yields almost five, so the Blaugrana should be blitzing the host's net all day despite the hosts likely to play park-the-bus football.
Barca should have no trouble controlling the match, as they lead La Liga in possession (62.3%), while Cadiz has controlled the ball 40.8% of the time (third-worst).
Rapinha has injected new life into the attack, and fellow new signings Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde have strengthened a defense that has yielded just one goal since the start of the season, one of the best records in Europe so far. The only other teams in La Liga to concede the same number of goals or less are former Barca coach Ernesto Valverde's Athletic Bilbao (1 goal conceded) and Villarreal (none conceded). Barca have allowed just 32 total shots, second-fewest in La Liga, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen has saved 12 of the 13 on net.
Cadiz managed to stay in the top flight by just one point last season and are last in the La Liga table right now. They are looking at another relegation battle this season. Yet their record against big teams is astonishing and against Barcelona, they have won two and drawn two in their four meetings since Cadiz rejoined the top flight for the 2020-21 season.
They held the Blaugrana to a scoreless draw in this fixture last season, then pulled off a 1-0 victory at Camp Nou in April. Lucas Perez scored the goal in that match.
Having not scored in their last four La Liga games, Cadiz are overdue a goal, and Alvaro Negredo and Athony Lozano, who shared the team's top scoring numbers with seven last season, are to be looked out for. Perez had three goals and two assists, and Sergio is seeking the right combination.
The Blaugrana don't allow a lot of shots, but sometimes the defensive structure is a bit sketchy and 40.6 percent find the target, the fifth-worst mark in La Liga. Cadiz will be playing with much hunger and a sought after win. They will hope to pull off a counter attack goal and keep their defensive third loaded with as many players as possible. Barca on the other hand will look for a win that could take them to the top of the La Liga table.
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