Barcelona to rely on tried-and-tested midfield pairing with 75% win percentage vs Valencia | OneFootball

Barcelona’s international window was not the best in terms of players retaining fitness, and one of the biggest blows the team suffered was the injury to Frenkie de Jong.

The Dutchman has established himself as a regular member in Hansi Flick’s starting lineup in recent times, and the magnitude of his absence will be felt now in the team’s coming games.

First up is the clash against Valencia, one where the manager must find an alternative double-pivot.

As relayed by SPORT, the Pedri-Marc Casado duo is expected to start on the night, a combination that has seen significant success in the past.

A tested combination

As relayed by the Spanish outlet, the Pedri Casado duo is one of Barcelona’s more stable and established double-pivot combinations and one that has numbers backing it.

The young duo have started together on 36 occasions, of which Barcelona have won 27 games, drawn thrice, and lost on six occasions. The win percentage with them at the helm, thus, stands at 75% with a loss percentage of just 16.7%.

Set to start. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

As a more defensively solid player, Casado’s presence helps Pedri venture forward with more freedom and express his creative side with more ease. The duo, thus, complements each other perfectly.

Given that Frenkie de Jong usually provides more verticality and attacking threat, however, his absence will concurrently add more pressure on Pedri’s shoulders to lead the team on that front.

So far this season, Pedri has started all three of Barcelona’s games in La Liga and played 90 minutes in each. In that duration, he averages two key passes per game and has created one big chance.

Casado, meanwhile, has played in just one game for the Catalans when he started against Levante, but was taken off at half-time when the team was trailing.