Barcelona face a tough task at the start of their La Liga campaign as the Catalans play host to Villarreal just three days after winning the UEFA Super Cup.

The season has barely started and Barca already have two new titles to add to their packed trophy cabinet.

After beating Real Madrid 5:4 on aggregate to lift the Spanish Super Cup, the Catalans ran out easy winners over Porto to clinch the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.

Pep Guardiola’s side are now 1.25 (1/4) favourites to beat Villarreal, but backing Barca at such odds may not be the best thing to do considering their major defensive crisis.

In addition to Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Maxwell, the boss won’t be able to count on Adriano and Dani Alves through injury and suspension respectively.

This means that inexperienced Montoya and Fontas are likely to start at the back, which is definitely going to be a chance for Villarreal.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Valdes – Montoya, Mascherano, Fontas, Abidal – Iniesta, Busquets, Xavi – Sanchez, Messi, Villa.

Villarreal have started their season a bit earlier than other La Liga sides, but that is unlikely to give them an extra edge over Barcelona seeing that the Catalans have already played three competitive games.

The Yellow Submarine enter the new La Liga campaign with virtually the same squad as last season, although they did see Santi Cazorla and Joan Capdevila leave the club.

In came Cristian Zapata and Javier Camunas, but I won’t be elaborating too much on the shape of the team as you can learn more about Villarreal and other La Liga sides in our Spanish La Liga Season Preview.

Villarreal did well to make it to Champions League group stages, having beaten OB Odense 3:1 on aggregate, and they are now hoping to take advantage of Barcelona’s worries and get at least one point from this match.

Considering that players like Nilmar and Rossi will be up against several players from Barcelona B, there is a good value in backing Villarreal to score at odds of 1.73 (8/11).

Apart from long-term worry Angel Lopez, Juan Carlos Garrido will have full squad to choose from.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Diego Lopez – Mario, Zapata, Musacchio, Oriol – Valero, Bruno, Senna, Cani – Nilmar, Rossi.