Barcelona are preparing to host Sevilla in La Liga action. The two sides are restless: Real Madrid are breathing down the neck of the Catalans, while Sevilla, after their 3:1 loss to Valancia recently, have lost their confidence.

Carles Puyol will have to earn more than 10. 88 rating points if he wants to retain his leadership in the rating of defenders. He now has 132.48 points and, had it not been for Sergio Ramos’ flop in the game against Getafe (2:3) in which he lost 2.79 rating points, Puyol would not have acceded to the top spot. Sergio Ramos currently has 131.14 points over all.

Mexican defender Rafael Marquez has also joined the World Top 23 with 118.77 points. The Mexican has a very stable performance at Barcelona and usually collects his 14.60 rating points in every game.

Mali international Frederic Kanoute will clearly be a danger for the Barca defense. He lost rating points in recent games, as well as his top spot in the rating of African players. He will also most likely lose points in the coming game, since he needs to earn the more than 46.60 rating points he had in the game against Real Valladolid after scoring a hat-trick (4:1).