Preview: Mallorca vs. Barcelona - prediction, team news, lineups

The Catalan outfit have picked up 16 points from their six league matches this season, which has left them at the top of the table, while Mallorca are 15th, boasting five points from their opening six games.

Match preview

Mallorca have won one, drawn two and lost three of their opening six La Liga matches of the season to collect five points, which has left them down in 15th position in the table.

The Pirates started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Las Palmas before losing their next two to Villarreal and Granada at the end of August.

Mallorca managed to claim their second point of the season at home to Athletic Bilbao at the start of September before beating Celta Vigo 1-0 after the international break to move onto five points.

Javier Aguirre's side were involved in an eight-goal thriller with Girona on Saturday, and the result went the way of the Catalan outfit, who recorded a 5-3 victory on home soil.

Mallorca actually took the lead in the fourth minute through Vedat Muriqi, but they then conceded five times without reply before netting twice late on through Abdon Prats to add some respectability to the scoreline.

Barcelona, meanwhile, were also involved in a dramatic match on Saturday, securing all three points courtesy of a 3-2 win over Celta Vigo, but it was far from straightforward.

Celta led 2-0 heading into the final 10 minutes, but a double from Robert Lewandowski levelled the scores in the 85th minute before Joao Cancelo netted the winner in the 89th minute, with the result moving the Catalan team onto 16 points, which has left them at the summit at the time of writing.

Barcelona were uninspiring in their goalless draw with Getafe on the opening weekend of the new season, but they have not put a foot wrong since, beating Cadiz, Villarreal, Osasuna, Real Betis and Celta in the league, in addition to a 5-0 victory over Royal Antwerp in the Champions League.

Xavi's side now have two more league games against Mallorca and Sevilla before travelling to Porto at the start of October for their second group game in the Champions League.

Barcelona have been victorious in each of their last 11 league games against Mallorca, while they have not lost to Tuesday's opponents in Spain's top flight since May 2009.

Mallorca La Liga form:

Barcelona La Liga form:

Barcelona form (all competitions):

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Team News

Mallorca will be without the services of Omar Mascarell and Antonio Raillo on Tuesday through injury, but the home side are otherwise in good shape heading into this match.

Prats scored twice off the bench against Girona and is now expected to come into the side, potentially in a wider position, with Muriqi again set to operate through the middle.

Head coach Aguirre is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes to the side that conceded five against Girona, but there is expected to be a change at the back, with Copete potentially being introduced.

Barcelona, meanwhile, suffered an injury blow against Celta, with Frenkie de Jong picking up an ankle issue which is expected to sideline him for the next six weeks or so.

Pedri is also still out with a thigh problem, meaning that Gavi could feature alongside Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan in the midfield three.

Ronald Araujo made his return from injury off the bench against Celta and could now be introduced into the side, with Andreas Christensen potentially dropping out.

Head coach Xavi continues to rotate when it comes to the right-sided attacking spot, meanwhile, and it could be Raphinha's turn to feature from the first whistle on Tuesday; Alejandro Balde should also return at left-back in the league affair.

Mallorca possible starting lineup:

Rajkovic; Maffeo, Valjent, Nastasic, Copete, Lato; D Rodriguez, Morlanes, Costa, Prats; Muriqi

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Kounde, Araujo, Balde; Gundogan, Romeu, Gavi; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix

We say: Mallorca 1-2 Barcelona

Mallorca are capable of making this a difficult match for Barcelona, but it is tough to back against the Catalan outfit at the moment, as they continue to find ways to win matches. This could be a tight fixture in terms of the scoreline, but we are backing Barcelona to extend their winning run.

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