A seven point lead at the top of La Liga is nothing to be sniffed at, especially with the final stretch of the season approaching. This is the lead that Barcelona have built over their closest competitors this season, Atlético Madrid, who have nonetheless closed the gap on the leaders in the last two games.
In their last appearance, Barcelona unexpectedly dropped two points against a resiliant Getafe, whose team-work and resolve was enough to keep Barcelona from scoring at the Camp Nou. Valverde won't have forgotten this slip-up, and will field a strong team against José Luis Mendilibar's side.
The Basque side are in a healthy run of form, having beaten Leganes and Sevilla in their last two league games they sit seventh in the table. Eibar have dreams of qualifying for the Europa League, and it's not an unrealistic dream, with the side only one point off sixth placed Sevilla.
That being said, there will not be too much hope of closing that gap on Saturday, as a victory against the league leaders would be a major upset. The seventh placed side have never beaten, or even drawn, to Barcelona in previous fixtures, and if you aggregated all their past clashes the combined score would be 21-4 to the Catalan side.
However, there is more pressure than ever on Barca, not just because Atlético aren't far behind them, but also due to their looming Champions League clash with Chelsea. The London side, who recently completed a 4-0 thrashing of Hull City in the FA Cup, will go into the European fixture knowing they are underdogs.
One positive though, is that Gerard Piqué will not miss out on facing Eibar, after overcoming problems with his knee. Valverde needs his principal Catalan centre-back fit and healthy, despite Yerry Mina showing signs of promise in his full debut at the Camp Nou.
All in all, Barcelona look all set to return to winning ways at the Ipurua stadium, although if they do slip up again, Atlético will be very hungry to further close the gap when they host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.