Barcelona vs. Almeria: Team News, Predicted Line-Ups, Live Stream & TV Info

At polar opposites of the La Liga table and with entirely different prospects in sight, Barcelona and Almeria are nevertheless equally desperate to rake in three points when they meet at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Barca manager Luis Enrique's men can extend their lead at the summit of the standings to seven points with a victory as Real Madrid prepare to face Rayo Vallecano later Wednesday night.

The desire to reach that cushion gives the Blaugrana that much more motivation to pull away from Almeria with a more convincing display than the one that saw them take a 1-0 win from Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Date: Wednesday, April 8

Time: 7 p.m. BST/2 p.m. ET

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), beIN Sports Play (US)

TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK), beIN Sports 2 (US) 

Form

Barcelona Form Guide

Result	Score	Opponent
W	0-1	Celta Vigo
W	2-1	Real Madrid
W	1-0	Manchester City
W	0-2	Eibar
W	6-1	Rayo Vallecano

Almeria Form Guide 

Result	Score	Opponent
L	1-4	Levante
L	2-1	Athletic
D	0-0	Villarreal
L	1-0	Elche
D	0-0	Deportivo La Coruna

Team News

Ahead of Almeria's visit, Jordi Alba is the biggest concern for Enrique, who is close to seeing a full crop of fit players for the first time in quite some weeks.

According to Spanish newspaper AS, the left-back trained separately from the rest of the squad, but Dani Alves, Adriano and Thomas Vermaelen each trained with the rest of the group:

Vermaelen is still yet to make his La Liga debut after joining last summer, but the Belgian is closing in on full fitness, while Munir was also part of Tuesday's training and may feature on Wednesday.

Sergio Busquets is suspended for the clash after being cautioned in the win over Celta this past weekend, meaning Javier Mascherano could fill in midfield.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Sebastian Dubarbier was sent off in Almeria's 4-1 defeat to Levante and so will be unavailable, with Jose Manuel Casado in the running to make his first La Liga start for the club as his replacement.

Fran Velez can make his return from suspension to replace the injured Mauro dos Santos in central defence, while right-back Michel is also back from injury and ready for selection.

Predicted Formations

Barcelona (4-3-3)

Claudio Bravo; Dani Alves, Jordi Alba, Marc Bartra, Jeremy Mathieu; Javier Macherano, Ivan Rakitic, Rafinha; Lionel Messi, Munir El Haddadi, Pedro

Almeria (4-2-3-1)

Julian Cuesta; Michel, Jose Manuel Casado, Fran Velez, Angel Trujillo; Ramon Azeez, Verza; Corona, Fernando Soriano, Jonathan Zongo; Tomer Hemed

Result	Odds
Barcelona Win	1-20
Draw	1-16
Almeria Win	1-33
Dani Alves - Anytime Goalscorer	7-1

Players to Watch

Having received a red card in each of their last three outings, Almeria are in the hunt to secure a greater wealth of possession against Barca, which will be no easy feat.

Central midfield star Verza will be looked upon as a chief source of inspiration for the travelling party, having made three assists in La Liga this term, per WhoScored.com, a tally only Wellington can match among Almeria players.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

The low level of his opposition gives Enrique a chance to hand the likes of Munir, Sandro Ramirez and Rafinha some valuable minutes, and so the Barca youngsters could be out in force in midweek.

Rafinha in particular will be hoping for a more fruitful opportunity after failing to impress against former loan side Celta this weekend, although Barcastuff shows that the youngster still received his dues from the crowd there:

"

Video: Ovation for Rafinha when subbed off vs Celta http://t.co/52KDitVcjn [lfp]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) April 7, 2015"

Key Battle

Lionel Messi vs. Angel Trujillo

Having conceded 25 goals away from home this season, Almeria have far from the worst away defence record in La Liga, with Angel Trujillo a key to their hopes on Wednesday.

The centre-back has a monumental task in keeping Lionel Messi at bay, however, with Greg Johnson of Squawka.com outlining what a provisional threat the Argentinian has become this season:

Messi has morphed to give those attackers ahead of him more opportunities while maintaining a substantial threat on goal himself, arguably becoming a more complete forward to fit the needs of those around him.

Trujillo has played more minutes than any other Almeria player this season, and he'll be considered the first obstacle blocking Messi's way.