I'm convinced Barcelona will be deciders of this game, and on paper they're the best side to clinch alll three points. Espanyol is not that side you want to rotate your squad against, they're know for giving Barcelona headaches from the start of the game to the end of the game. Well for the records, Barcelona has scored 22 goals in the last five game played at home. As per Espanyol, they have lost three fixtures won one and drew one. This is not a great stat while traveling to Camp Nou.
You are thinking in the right direction, if you evaluate the results of the teams for the 11 rounds played, then Espanyol on average misses 2 goals per match, while Barcelona scores on average more than 3 goals per game, only these indicators show that the weak defense of Espanyol will not be able to cope with the attack of Barcelona and Espanyol is traditionally an easy opponent for Barcelona, so they need to win and get their three points. Real's game was postponed yesterday, so there is an opportunity to increase the gap from them.
This match will bring together two teams that are in different conditions, Barcelona is at the peak of its performance and is the most productive team in La Liga, especially in the previous two matches they also managed to beat two big teams Bayern Munich and Real Madrid with an accumulation of 8 goals. While Espanyol is in a slump, their defense is also very fragile. On paper Barcelona will get a big win in this game as long as Hansi Flick does not make major rotations.
Espanyol is not a team that is difficult for Barcelona to beat, recorded in the last 5 H2H, they were able to win all of them, especially since the situation experienced by Espanyol this season is not favorable. If Hansi Flick rotates, he must be careful in making decisions and must learn from the defeat to Osasuna, he must maintain team solidity by rotating only 2 or 3 positions.