Barcelona may have a game in hand, but with the two sides sitting level on points midway through the league campaign, the clash at Camp Nou is bound to produce plenty of fireworks.

The Catalans have continued with impressive performances under Luis Enrique, but were unable to break away from the chasing pack.

Several unexpected slip-ups at the turn of the year allowed Atletico to leapfrog them in the overall standings, but the team have since returned to the summit.

While winning four straight games to make it to the Copa del Rey semi-final, the Catalans hammered Granada and Athletic in La Liga before a hard-fought win at La Rosaleda saw them climb to the top of the standings.

Barcelona now have a chance to create a substantial advantage over their title rivals and they are 1.53 (8/15) to succeed in their quest.

Despite suffering an ankle injury in the Copa del Rey clash against Athletic, Neymar is expected to face Atletico Madrid on Saturday afternoon.

This means that Rafinha Alcantara remains the only unavailable footballer at the moment, with Bravo, Iniesta and Busquets set to be recalled.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Bravo – Vidal, Mascherano, Pique, Alba – Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta – Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

Atletico Madrid are the team that made La Liga title chase interesting again after Barcelona and Real Madrid had been involved in a two-horse race, and they deserve a great deal of credit for battling bravely against the El Clasico rivals.

Following serious changes to the playing squad, los Colchoneros experienced plenty of problems in the opening exchanges, but they recovered brilliantly to climb to the top of the league standings.

And it is team’s defensive record that has again been grabbing headlines, with Atletico conceding mere 8 goals in 21 league fixtures, although no doubts the record will be put to a serious test at Camp Nou.

Los Colchoneros did suffer a dip in form of late, playing out goalless draws against Celta Vigo and Sevilla before the home loss to the Sky Blues ended their Copa del Rey campaign.

But, given their experience and incredible character, chances are that the poor run of results is unlikely to damage their chances of getting something from Camp Nou.

Diego Simeone welcomes back Fernando Torres from an ankle problem, but Tiago Mendes and Lucas Hernandez remain on the sidelines.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Oblak – Juanfran, Savic, Godin, Filipe Luis – Saul, Gabi, Fernandez, Koke – Vietto, Griezmann.