We may only be a few weeks into 2022 but football fans around the world are already set to be treated to the first El Clasico of the year.

On Wednesday night Barcelona face Real Madrid at the King Fahd Stadium in Saudi Arabia for the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup.

Whoever wins will then face Athletic Bilbao or Atletico Madrid in the final on Sunday night. So how to both teams look ahead of the game?

In defence, Xavi will be without central defender Eric Garcia, who is now expected to be out for some time with a hamstring injury.

He joins Sergi Roberto on the injury list, so Barca are likely to stick with a back four of Sergino Dest, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and then Jorgi Alba at left-back.

Gavi’s suspension is set to be carried over to Barca’s next league fixture, which means he should return to the starting XI to play in midfield alongside Nico Gonzalez and Sergio Busquets, in the absence of a fully fit Frenkie de Jong.

In attack, Barca are unlikely to risk Ansu Fati just yet, which means Ousmane Dembele, Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong will be tasked with getting the better of Madrid’s back line.

Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to make too many changes from the side that beat Valencia in the league, with a back four of Daniel Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba and Ferland Mendy in front of Thibaut Courtois in goals.

The ever-present trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro will undoubtedly be tasked with getting the better of this battered and bruised Barca in the middle of the pitch.

In front of them, he should see a front three of Marco Asensio and the remarkably in-form Vinicius Jr supporting the ever-green goal scoring threat of Karim Benzema.

How Barcelona and Real Madrid could line up