El Derbi Barceloni has become a one-sided affair over the last few years, but relegation threatened Espanyol will give their best to extend their unbeaten run to five matches at Camp Nou.

While nobody expected Barcelona to suffer too much from the departure of Pep Guardiola, not too many people could predict Tito Vilanova will have such a bright start to his career as head coach.

Under his guidance, the Catalans have won 16 of 17 league matches, thus creating a nine-point cushion at the top and a 16-point advantage over arch rivals Real Madrid.

Even if they experienced some problems in the Champions League group stages, Barcelona eased off to the knockout stages, where they will face Milan.

Having done so well in the first part of the season, the Catalans hope to start 2013 with a bang, but they are just 1.11 (1/9) at Paddy Power to win this derby game.

After netting 26 times in 17 league fixtures, Leo Messi is 3.75 (11/4) with Coral to score two goals or more.

Adriano Correia should be fit to play after recovering from an ankle problem, but Marc Muniesa and Eric Abidal will not be in contention.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Valdes – Adriano, Puyol, Pique, Alba – Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas – Pedro, Messi, Iniesta.

After showing a lot of potential over the last couple of years, Espanyol have been on a major downtrend this season.

Boss Mauricio Pochettino paid the price for the dismal start to the league campaign, and los Periquitos indeed showed some improvement under Javier Aguirre.

Espanyol began the good run of results by sharing spoils with Granada, Sevilla and Real Madrid, while home win over relegation rivals Deportivo La Coruna ensured the players properly enjoy the Christmas holidays.

As a result, los Periquitos are now on the verge of climbing away from the bottom three, although they will have to play a perfect game if they are to continue the good run at Camp Nou.

It is not realistic to expect Espanyol can stop Barca from winning this game, but bear in mind they are 2.25 (5/4) with Coral to score at Camp Nou.

First choice keeper Cristian Alvarez is a major doubt, but Rui Fonte and Javi Lopez have both recovered from injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Casilla – Javi Lopez, Colotto, Moreno, Capdevila – Victor Sanchez, Forlin – Mubarak, Verdu, Simao – Sergio Garcia.