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Real Madrid will host Barcelona in the latest edition of EL Clasico on Sunday. The match promises to be an exciting contest as both teams have already suffered defeats in La Liga this season. Currently, Los Blancos lead the table with 24 points, two points ahead of second-placed Barcelona. Both teams are coming off recent victories in the Champions League. Real Madrid defeated Juventus 1-0 while Barcelona triumphed over Olympiacos with a resounding 6-1 scoreline. Real Madrid have had a stellar start to the season, with 11 wins from their 12 matches across all competitions. Their only defeat came against Atletico Madrid at the end of September. In La Liga, they have won eight out of nine matches. On the other hand, Barcelona suffered a shocking 4-1 defeat to Sevilla before the October international break but managed to bounce back with a 2-1 win over Girona last weekend. Ahead of the highly-anticipated clash, Real Madrid have welcomed Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal and Dean Huijsen back into their squad. However, Antonio Rudiger remains sidelined with a serious muscular injury while David Alaba misses out due to a groin complaint. For Barcelona, Frenkie de Jong is back in training after an illness but Jules Kounde's participation remains doubtful as he missed training on Thursday and Friday due to a knock. Real Madrid's starting XI could include Courtois; Valverde, Militao, Alaba, Carreras; Guler, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Mastantuono, Mbappe and Vinicius. For Barcelona, the lineup may feature Ter Stegen; E Garcia, Araujo, Cubarsi and Balde in defense. The midfield could see Pedri and De Jong while Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, and Marcus Rashford are expected to support Ferran Torres in attack. Across 190 La Liga matches, Real Madrid own a 79-76 record over Barcelona in EL Clasico. 35 matches have been drawm. Overall, the two sides have met 261 times in all competitions. Real hold a 105-104 win-loss record. A total of 52 games have been drawn. Kylian Mbappe leads the scoring chart in La Liga this season. He has bagged 10 goals. Besides Mbappe, Vinicius has done well, scoring 5 goals and making 4 assists. For Barcelona, Lamine Yamal owns 2 goals and 4 assists.
