Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Barcelona
Match Time & Date:
20/12/2023
19:00
Prediction: 3-1
Almeria
After dropping two points in a 1-1 draw with Valencia, Barcelona will look to return to winning ways in La Liga when they take on Almeria on Matchday 18. The Catalan outfit are seven points behind league leaders Real Madrid, meaning that this has to go down as a must-win game for Robert Lewandowski and Co. Ferran Torres is widely expected to return to the starting XI, while all Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso, Gavi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen remain on the sidelines with injuries.
The Andalusians, on the other hand, are stuck at the bottom with only five points on their account. Anyhow, David faces Goliath at Estadio Olimpico and anything but a routine home win would be a big surprise. All Marko Milovanovic, Ibrahima Kone, Luis Suarez, and Martin Svidersky are out of contention with injuries, speaking of the away team, while Iddrisu Baba is pushing for a start following his fine performance in a goalless draw with Mallorca.
Highlighted Player (Robert Lewandowski):
After scoring 36 goals in 59 league games for Znicz Pruskow, Robert Lewandowski joined Lech Poznan in June, 2008. The 184-cm-tall attacker scored 18 goals in 28 appearances for the club in the 2009/2010 Ekstraklasa campaign and during the season he was on Borussia Dortmund’s radar.
The Polish forward signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga side in June, 2010 and he quickly established himself as the team’s key attacker. Lewandowski was producing excellent performances with the Millionaires between 2010 and 2014 and it has to be noted that he won two Bundesliga trophies with the club (2010/2011, 2011/2012). He participated in the 2012/2013 Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, but the Millionaires were beaten by fellow Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in the title game.
However, he betrayed Borussia Dortmund fans in 2014 as he signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga giants. Lewandowski impressed in the 2016/2017 Bundesliga campaign as he scored 30 goals in 32 league games for Pep Guardiola’s troops. The Polish footballer represented his homeland at Euro 2016 in France and he scored one goal at the showpiece tournament in France.
Highlighted Team (Almeria):
UD Almeria is a Spanish club based in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Los Rojiblancos are one of the newer additions to the Spanish football system, with the club being founded on July 26, 1989.
Almeria suffered relegation to Segunda Division in the 2014/15 season, and they have been competing in the Spanish second tier ever since. Los Rojiblancos are well known for their white shirts with red stripes, while blue is the dominant colour of their away jersey. Sofiane Feghouli, Felipe Melo, Diego Alves, Veljko Paunovic, Aleix Vidal, Alvaro Negredo, Tomer Hemed, and Mate Bilic are some notable footballers who played for Almeria in the past. Fellow Andalusian clubs Sevilla, Malaga, and Granada are considered the club’s fiercest rivals.
The club’s biggest success in Copa del Rey came in the 2010/11 season when they made it to the semis of the prestigious competition. Nonetheless, Catalan giants Barcelona proved to be a big catch for Almeria in the Spanish Cup semi-finals.
Las Palmas 
Crystal Palace
Newcastle 
Borussia Dortmund 
Bayern Munich 
West Ham
Arsenal
Chelsea 
Aston Villa 
Manchester United 
Everton
