Villarreal vs Barcelona

La Liga pacesetters Barcelona make a daunting trip to the Estadio de la Ceramica to encounter European hopefuls Villarreal in a tricky league contest.

Following a four-match unbeaten league start to the new calendar year (W3, D1), Quique Setien’s men have lost back-to-back top-flight games, including a dreadful 3-1 defeat at rock-bottom Elche last time out. Now at the risk of losing three consecutive La Liga outings for the first time since May 2020, Villarreal will be out to defy an underwhelming five-game H2H league form against Barcelona at home (D1, L4). Though they finished on the receiving end of a 3-1 scoreline in this corresponding fixture in 2021/22, ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ remain hopeful of avoiding another catastrophe, with only Barcelona (7) conceding fewer La Liga goals than them (17) this term. Interestingly, none of Villarreal’s four post-World Cup home league encounters have ended level (W2, L2), each featuring a slender one-goal margin.

On the other hand, Barcelona have hit the ground running since a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Espanyol at the turn of the year, racking up five consecutive La Liga triumphs by an aggregate score of 8-1. Though the only goal they let in during that five-game sequence came in a 2-1 victory at Real Betis on their last league travel, the ‘Blaugrana’ will be confident of holding Villarreal scoreless on the road for the first time since 2017. Indeed, Xavi Hernandez’s men have kept a staggering 15 clean sheets in 20 La Liga fixtures this season, with no side from Europe’s top-five leagues boasting a better defensive record at the start of this round. Another triumph at La Ceramica would see Barcelona register eight competitive wins on the trot for the first time since 2017, so motivation shouldn’t be lacking.