LA LIGA PREVIEW: VILLARREAL VS BARCELONA

Can the Yellow Submarines attack unseen as the Catalan giants step into enemy territory?

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

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.

LA LIGA PREVIEW: BARCELONA VS SEVILLA

Barcelona take on their second Andalusian opponent in 5 days, this time at home. Can they make it 10 wins in a row?

Barcelona, despite their disastrous Champions League campaign, have been a force of nature in the domestic competitions. They sit 5 points clear at the top with 50 points, have won all their games in the new year so far while having the best defense in Europe. They also have a Spanish Super Cup trophy to show for their efforts. Now, back at the Spotify Camp Nou, where they've conceded only one goal this season (a penalty), they welcome a Sevilla side who seem to have found a bit of form as of late.

Los Nervionenses have finished in the top 4 for the last 3 seasons. This time, they are struggling to stay up. They sit at 14th currently, but are 2 points away from the drop. Having brought in Jorge Sampaoli to steady the ship, they've found a bit of balance lately, losing only one of their last four games. That'll give them a bit of confidence heading to Barcelona, but they'll need much more than that to trouble their illustrious hosts.

INTERESTING STATS

• In the last 70 meetings between the two teams, Barcelona have won 41 times, and 16 matches have ended in a draw. Sevilla have only managed 13 wins.
• In the last 32 meetings when the Catalan giants have hosted Sevilla, they have won 24 times, and only five have ended in a draw. The visitors have tasted victory only thrice.
• When the two go up against each other, the most common result has been FC Barcelona 2-1 Sevilla. This result has happened on eight occasions.
• It has been over a decade since Barca lost to Sevilla at home. The visitors Sevilla last won at Camp Nou against Barcelona back in 2010.
• Barcelona are unbeaten in the last ten La Liga matches. They last lost in the league back in October 2022.

Last five meetings

03/09/22 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 3 (Raphinha, Lewandowski, E Garcia)

03/04/22 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Pedri) Sevilla 0

21/12/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 1 Barça 1 (Araujo)

03/03/21 (C DEL REY) Barça 3 (Dembélé, Piqué, Braithwaite) Sevilla 0

27/02/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 2 (Dembélé, Messi)

TEAM NEWS

Barcelona

 Ousmane Dembele remains the only absentee for the Blaugrana. As he is expected to be sidelined for most of February, the rest of the attackers will be expected to step up.

Marc Andre TerStegen will continue in goal. Alejandro Balde was said to have missed the last training due to fever and could possibly be replaced by Jordi Alba in the starting XI. Koundé, Araujo and Christensen will round up the defense.

Xavi has been favoring the 4 man midfield lately, and will likely continue as such here as there are no room for errors in the title race. Raphinha and Lewandowski will round up the starting XI.

Sevilla

Sampaoli will be without some important players for this clash.

Marcao and Marko Dmitrovic are both out with muscle injuries, while Alex Telles, is suffering from a knee problem. Papu Gomez, Jesus Corona and Jesus Navas are also in the infirmary. Adnan Januzaj has joined Istanbul Basaksehir on loan until the end of the season. Despite this list of absentees, Sevilla will feel quite confident with those available.

Yassine Bounou will be in the goal. Gonzalo Montiel, Nemanja Gudelj, Tanguy Nianzou, and Marcos Acuna will round up the defense.

Thomas Delaney and Ivan Rakitic will pivot the midfield, while Joan Jordan, Oliver Torres, and Erik Lamela will sit on top of the pivots and help out the lone frontman, Youssef En-Nesyri. 

Where and when are Barcelona vs Sevilla playing?

Location: Barcelona, Spain 

Stadium: Spotify Camp Nou

Date: Sunday 5 February

Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT / 17:00 EST / 12:00 PST, 21:00 🇳🇬

Referee: Jose Sanchez

Sevilla are desperate to stay up, and such opponents are never easy to beat. That said, they meet a very dogged Barcelona and face an uphill task of troubling the hosts.

A tightly contested and heated affair is expected, but it's hard to look past Barcelona taking all 3 points here as they too are in a desperate situation of their own: winning their first La Liga title in 3 years.