Barcelona will be without the services of Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Memphis Depay for Sunday evening's La Liga contest with Athletic Bilbao.

Christensen and Memphis are believed to be entering the latter stages of their recoveries from ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.

However, neither player has been deemed fit enough to be included in the squad against Athletic Bilbao.

Araujo, meanwhile, remains on the sidelines following groin surgery, with the 23-year-old out of action since suffering an injury during the September international break.

Hector Bellerin had also recently been on the sidelines, but the Spaniard returned to the squad against Villarreal on Thursday and featured as a late substitute in his side's 3-0 victory at Camp Nou.

Xavi's side have not suffered any fresh injury concerns, though, so it will be the same squad that was available for the clash with the Yellow Submarine.

Barcelona have dropped six points off the top of the table due to Real Madrid's win over Sevilla on Saturday, while Athletic sit sixth, boasting 18 points from their opening 10 matches.

"We expect a difficult opponent who plays intensely and aggressively. They recover the ball quickly and press perfectly. [Ernesto] Valverde is a coach who will make the task difficult for us. It will be a different match than Villarreal," Xavi told reporters during his press conference ahead of the match.

The Barcelona boss also said that he will make changes for this contest, which comes ahead of a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich next week.

There have been suggestions that Pedri could be given a rest, but Xavi has seemingly confirmed that the midfielder will remain in the starting XI.

"Yes we will make some changes, we want to be 100%. I try to let everyone rest, but he (Pedri) is essential to our way of playing," said the 42-year-old.

Franck Kessie will be among those hoping to earn minutes as part of the rotations on Sunday, but Xavi has said that the Ivory Coast international will have to be patient.

"He is fine and he has had his moments, but we have competition in midfield. He is training very well, but it is difficult for him. He is a great professional and I'm sure he'll have his chances this season," the head coach added when questioned on the arrival from AC Milan.

Sergio Busquets, Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha and Eric Garcia will also be hopeful of returning to the side after being left out of the XI against Villarreal.

Barcelona squad vs. Athletic Bilbao:

Ter Stegen, Pena, Tenas; Bellerin, Pique, Alonso, Alba, Kounde, E Garcia, Balde; Busquets, Pedri, Kessie, Roberto, F de Jong, Gavi, Torre; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati, Torres, Raphinha body check tags ::