Barca aim for three points in Gijon

FC Barcelona travel to play Sporting Gijon on Sunday night knowing they have an excellent chance to take all three points and add to Sporting's misery. Barcelona travel to Gijon on the back of an excellent week that saw them beat Atletico Madrid 5-0 in the Camp Nou stadium and also win 5-0 away to Bate Borisav in the Champions League. The man of the moment is without doubt Leo Messi, who scored five goals in those two matches and the emphasis will be on the brilliant Argentinean to continue that form. However, coach Pep Guardiola will also be pleased with the recent form shown by David Villa, who as well as recovering his scoring touch, looks to be quicker and sharper than at the start of the campaign. Youngster Thiago Alcantara has also been outstanding and his performances have helped cover for the loss of Alexis Sanchez and Andres Iniesta, who are still sidelined with hamstring injuries. Central defender Carles Puyol is a slight doubt with a blow to his ribs suffered in midweek, but the captain should recover, if not Adriano could well step in at left back with Eric Abidal moving into central defense. A win could put Barcelona top of the table, depending on Betis' result against Levante, but Sporting will do everything to stop them. Manuel Preciado's side are bottom of the table with just one point from their opening five matches of the season. Those five games include home defeats against Valencia and Real Sociedad and a disappointing 0-0 draw against Racing Santander. Sporting are paying for the loss of midfielder Diego Castro, who joined Getafe over the summer and the failure to sign a decent striker. The fact they have scored just two goals this season makes their major weakness easy to see. Barcelona will have to work hard against a team that is playing to possibly save Preciado's job, but their quality should be enough to see them to a comfortable victory.