RCD Mallorca vs. FC Barcelona: La Liga Preview and Team News

FC Barcelona and Mallorca will face each other this weekend at the Estadi Iberostar at Palma de Mallorca.

Here's a preview, including news about the two teams and my prediction.

Mallorca

Mallorca is currently in 13th place in the 2012-13 La Liga BBVA table. The team has three wins, two draws and five losses with a goal differential of minus-five.

Mallorca defeated Espanyol, Valencia and Real Sociedad, and they drew with Malaga and Osasuna. Their losses have been to Real Madrid, Getafe, Sevilla FC, Granada and Deportivo La Coruna.

One of the principal players of Mallorca is Giovani Dos Santos. Dos Santos is a Mexican striker who transferred from Tottenham Hotspur to Mallorca last summer.

Uche and Ximo, two of RCD Mallorca's principal players, will not participate in this match. Uche suffered a left knee sprain that will keep him off the field for one to two weeks. Ximo ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus of his right knee.

Ximo is expected to be rested for a long stretch of the season.

All information was obtained from the RCD Mallorca website.

FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona is currently in first place in the table. La Blaugrana has nine wins, one draw and no losses.

Barca has 28 points in La Liga with a goal differential of 20. They are currently undefeated, in La Liga but suffered a loss on Wednesday to Celtic in the UEFA Champions League (UCL).

The loss to Celtic was largely due to Barca's underestimation of their opponents. This weakness has also been seen in some of La Blaugrana's La Liga matches, particularly in the match against Sevilla this past September.

Prediction

La Blaugrana may win, but they'll have to be careful in this match. They cannot depend on Lionel Messi to perform last-minute miracles, although Messi did just that   against Celtic with his last-minute goal.

Barca will play in the 4-3-3 formation, as usual featuring Victor Valdes, Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta in the lineup.

Mallorca will look to take advantage of any weak positioning from Barca, and if counterattacking, Dos Santos may shock Valdes and Barca with a goal in the first half.

Messi will likely score an equalizer and another goal within the second half.

RCD Mallorca 1-2 FC Barcelona