Barcelona will take on Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in a key Spanish La Liga match up. Most pundits predict a Barcelona win but their defense will be under intense scrutiny following a disastrous run of form that has seen them leak far too many goals. The game kicks off at 4 p.m. ET and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.

Rayo will be hoping to claim their first home win over Barcelona since December 2002, and it could be their best opportunity for a while since the Barca side are still trying to get injured players back at full fitness, and have had a shaky defense in recent weeks.

Javier Mascherano is suspended, so Marc Bartra will start alongside either Alex Song or Adriano. Batra had a good game against Celtic during the week and could get the nod.

Barcelona have been able to exert the same dominance over opposition as recent years. They have continued their beautiful style of football, keeping possession and starving opposition of the ball. However, they have struggled in defense and have come close to losing numerous games this year.

Against Manchester City in the Champions League they were 2-1 down late on, but managing to score two late goals to claim a 3-2 win.

Again against Celtic on Tuesday night they had to wait until deep into injury time to claim the winning goal.

Rayo have lost four out of their last five matches, conceding 12 goals in the process, including six in a single game against Valladolid. They will remember Barcelona winning 7-0 in this same fixture last year, and will be hoping to avoid a similar result today.

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova has said, “The trip to Rayo is the toughest trip so far. Paco Jémez has done a great job. It won’t be easy for us to come out with the ball, because they are a very adventurous side. Vallecas is never an easy ground to visit and on Saturday they won’t just sit back and wait for us—they’ll go toe to toe with us.”

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano kicks off at 4 p.m. ET and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.

Tags: soccer