Villarreal are winless in eight straight games and are coming off of a midweek Champions League 2-0 loss to Manchester United. Unai Emery’s team now turn their attention to Barcelona, who will arrive at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Saturday night.
Barcelona made a winning start to the Xavi era last weekend with a 1-0 Catalan Derby win over Espanyol. The Blaugrana drew in the Champions League in midweek versus Benfica nil-nil. It was a game that Benfica had the chance to win in the 90th minute but failed to convert an open-net chance.
⚡️ 𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉 ⚡️Morning workout ahead of Saturday's #VillarrealBarça𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗖̧𝗔 𝗧𝗩+🖥 https://t.co/v28AM27Zzq pic.twitter.com/rjyZmub9dH— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 26, 2021
⚡️ 𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉 ⚡️Morning workout ahead of Saturday's #VillarrealBarça𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗖̧𝗔 𝗧𝗩+🖥 https://t.co/v28AM27Zzq pic.twitter.com/rjyZmub9dH
The Blaugrana’s Champions League future will come down to the final matchday of the Champions League. However, they will play Bayern Munich in Germany, and a loss could send Barcelona into the Europa League.
Villarreal have struggled against Barcelona historically. The Yellow Submarine have not won against Barcelona since 2007-08. Twenty-six straight matches between these teams finished without a loss by Barcelona. Each of the last four matches between Villarreal and Barcelona ended in wins for the latter.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last three La Liga matches. They took eight points from the last 18 on offer in the league. The Blaugrana’s defence conceded eight times while the attack scored nine goals.
Villarreal took just five points from the last 18 on offer in the league. They were outscored 10-7 by the last six La Liga opponents.
Xavi has several key players on the injury list going into the weekend. Pedri is ruled out until December with a muscle injury, Sergi Roberto is a doubt for the game with physical discomfort, and Ansu Fati is ruled out until December with a hamstring pull.
Sergio Aguero is ruled out for the foreseeable future with a cardiac issue. Martin Braithwaite and Moussa Wague are both nearing returns and could make the squad for the match.
Emery has just one player on the injury list ahead of the fixture as Gerard Moreno continues to recover from a hamstring strain. He could be passed fit for the game as Villarreal desperately need Moreno’s goalscoring.
Villarreal have drawn the joint-most games in La Liga this season with seven. Barcelona have drawn five of their 13 matches. Based on Barcelona’s historical form and the teams’ current form in all competitions, this game should finish in a score draw.
Five straight La Liga matches between Villarreal and Barcelona finished with over 2.5 goals. This game should also finish with more than 2.5 goals tallied.