Pique is on pole to rotate on Thursday against Las Palmas LaLiga - Las Palmas vs Barcelona Game comes three days before Atletico

With 13 games to go before the end of LaLiga Atletico Madrid will not give up second place in the standings, and with one eye on the match against the Rojiblancos, Gerard Pique is more than likely to be rested for Thursday's match at Las Palmas.

Barcelona remain undefeated so far in the domestic competition, and have been a prominent leader for weeks.

However, Diego Simeone's side have taken advantage of two recent draws for the Catalans to cut the distance to seven points.

This makes Sunday's match at the Camp Nou a key date for the outcome of the championship.

A Barcelona victory would widen the margin between first and second to 10 points again.

Ernesto Valverde will prepare for the clash in the Canary Islands with more rotation than usual, and though he's not very fond of making massive changes, the need is urgent.

Against Girona, four days after the trip to Chelsea, Andres Iniesta and Sergi Roberto rested, and now there needs to be another round of rest for certain starters.

Jordi Alba, who received a yellow card against Girona, will miss Las Palmas but be back for Atleti.

Of the rest, Gerard Pique, who has had discomfort in the right knee for several weeks, seems a sensible pick to sit on the sidelines.

Despite this problem, the centre-back played at the Estadio Mestalla in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey and repeated his starting sport against both Chelsea and Girona.

However, on Saturday he ran into Pere Pons and had to leave the pitch.

Considering the closeness of the Atletico clash, everything points to Vermaelen and Umtiti forming the defensive pairing in Gran Canaria.

Suarez, needed for Atletico

Another two players capable of rotating are Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez.

The Croatian has not been injured so far this season and has played 21 out of 24 games, being the fourth most used player by Valverde.

Meanwhile, the Uruguayan forward is one card away from a suspension.

He tried by all means to get a yellow against Girona, but the referee denied him.

Therefore, the threat remains and the Txingurri could bench him against Las Palmas, because losing Suarez for Atleti would be a big problem for Barcelona.