Barcelona start the new La Liga season away at Valencia CF on Saturday with the two sides meeting at Mestalla. It finished 4-2 to the Catalan giants back in April with Barca the hosts back then and Hansi Flick has a strong record to defend with 19 points from seven games against Los Ches. The Blaugrana finished last term strongly although it was too late to catch Real Madrid but Valencia struggled to get over the line with no wins from their final seven league games and one point from four home fixtures.

A top-half finish last season might give hope to European aspirations this campaign but Ruben Baraja will need a strong start if that is to stand any chance of happening. This is a tough opener and Valencia have struggled at home in recent times so a strong start would be very welcome. However, it is a new era for Barca under Flick and the hope will be to compete for the title for longer than they did last year. The last time that the Catalans dropped points against their Valencian hosts was late 2023 with a 1-1 draw but Baraja’s side have not actually won this fixture since early 2020.

Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:

How to watch and odds

Date: Saturday, August 17 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, August 17 | 3:30 p.m. ET Location: Mestalla – Valencia, Spain

Mestalla – Valencia, Spain TV: ESPN Deportes | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)

ESPN Deportes | Fubo (try for free) Odds: Valencia +360; Draw +290; Barcelona -138

New faces

Neither of these two sides has been as busy as other European clubs this summer with Valencia doing minimal business with just one permanent arrival in the form of goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski for free from Rayo Vallecano. Levante’s Dani Gomez and Sevilla’s Rafa Mir have joined on loan but it has been another low-cost window so far at Mestalla. As for Barca, money has been spent on UEFA Euro 2024 hero Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig as well as Pau Victor from Girona but it was a struggle to register the Spain international in time for this one.

Team news

Valencia: Sergi Canos, Jose Gaya, Jaume Domenech, Fran Perez, Samu Castillejo and Mouctar Diakhaby are all out. Perez, Diakhaby, Domenech and Gaya have been out for lengthy spells and will continue to be unavailable. Mir will lead the attack alongside Hugo Duro while Giorgi Mamardashvili will be in goal until a decision is made regarding his future with Liverpool interested in the Georgia international.

Possible Valencia XI: Mamardashvili; Correia, Gasiorowski, Tarrega, Vazquez; Pepelu, Guillamon, Tejon, Almeida; Mir, Duro.

Barcelona: Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati have all been ruled out for this one. Ronald Araujo is also unavailable and Pedri might not be back in training until later this month. Lamine Yamal has not featured much during preseason after his Euro heroics but could play a part here.

Possible Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Christensen, Martinez, Balde; Gundogan, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski, Yamal, Torres.

Prediction

Flick will be keen to make a winning start and Barca’s record against Valencia is good. Overall, the Catalans should be able to open with a win here to get off to an ideal start in La Liga. Pick: Valencia 0, Barcelona 1.

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