Barcelona have so far remained undeterred in their pursuit of their first La Liga crown in 3 years. 8 points above their closest competitor, it's safe to say that the race is Barcelona's to lose at this point. They are in a crucial part of their campaign and wouldn't want to give Real Madrid a sniff in the title race. 8 points is great, but how about 11? Because that's what will happen if they emerge victorious tonight.
But, they will have to get past a Villarreal side who are beaming to land that emergency blow as they've been rocked hard by Rayo Vallecano and bottom placed Elche in recent times. Having claimed one giant scalp earlier on in the form of Real Madrid, they'll feel they can do it again, even though it's against a giant that has stamped on them numerous times in the past.
INTERESTING STATS
- When Villarreal hosts Barcelona at home, the most common result is a 1-0 win for the Catalan giants. Three matches have ended with this result.
- Villarreal have only won five out of the last 24 meetings between the two teams while playing at home. Six matches have ended as a draw, while Barcelona have won 13 times.
- Barça have won 30 out of the last 49 meetings, between the two clubs. The Yellow Submarine have only managed nine wins, while there have been ten draws.
- Barcelona have scored 104 goals in the last 49 matches between the two clubs while Villarreal have found the back of the net on 58 occasions.
- Xavi’s men are on a ten-match winning run in all competitions and are looking to make it 11 in a row. As far as La Liga goes, they have won their last five fixtures.
Last five meetings
20/10/22 Barça 3-0 Villarreal
22/05/22 Barça 0-2 Villarreal
27/11/21 Villarreal 1-3 Barça
25/04/21 Villarreal 1-2 Barça
27/09/20 Barça 4-0 Villarreal
22/05/22 Barça 0-2 Villarreal
27/11/21 Villarreal 1-3 Barça
25/04/21 Villarreal 1-2 Barça
27/09/20 Barça 4-0 Villarreal
TEAM NEWS
Former Barça coach Quique Setien will be without some key players in the form of Gio LoCelso, Alfonso Pedraza, Nicolas Jackson and Filip Jorgensen. Pau Torres, after missing out on Elche, will be back for this clash.
Setien will likely stick to the side that lost against Elche in a 4-3-3 formation.
Pepe Reina will start in goal. Juan Foyth, Pau Torres, Raul Albiol and Johan Mojica will be the defenders.
Alex Baena, Etienne Capoue, and Dani Parejo will be the engine room while Samuel Chukwueze, Yeremy Pino, and Gerard Moreno will be the front three.
Barcelona
Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Busquets remain unavailable due to thigh and ankle injuries, respectively. This means that Xavi has little to tinker from the starting XI against Sevilla.
Zamora favorite, Marc Andre TerStegen will start between the sticks. The best defense in Europe, Koundé, Christensen, Araujo and Balde will feature once again.
It's likely that Xavi will revert to his 4-3-3 formation, with Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie DeJong looking to dominate the midfield battle against Parejo and co.
Ansu Fati will likely start against his favorite opponents today in his favored position, with Lewandowski and Raphinha rounding up the attack.
Where and when are Villarreal vs Barcelona playing?
Location: Villarreal, Spain
Stadium: Estadio de la Ceramica
Date: Sunday 12 February
Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST, 21:00 🇳🇬
Referee: Alejandro Hernandez
The Yellow Submarines are desperate to return to the Champions League spots and will be motivated in front of their fans. However, they've been torpedoed repeatedly by Barcelona, irrespective of the ground, and will likely fall to the League leaders once again.
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