Villarreal vs Barcelona preview

January 6, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

High-flying Villarreal will attempt to further improve their top 4 hopes with a good result against title chasers Barcelona, who will have a point to prove at El Madrigal.

The Catalans were beaten by Athletic Club in Copa del Rey in midweek, and they are eager to make amends for the San Mames setback.

Having remained true top 4 contenders in one of the world’s strongest leagues without considerable investment in the playing squad, Villarreal have got to be given credit for their recent achievements.

In addition to Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, the Yellow Submarine also need to battle Basque sides Athletic and Real Sociedad for two remaining Champions League berths, and what a fight that will be.

Villarreal have so far done even better than expected, climbing to fourth in the overall standings, but the challenge now is to try and remain there come end of the season.

The Yellow Submarine finished the first part of the league campaign in style, recording back to back wins over Atletico Madrid and Sporting Gijon, but have since suffered a dip in form.

Following the 1-1 draw with Toledo in Copa del Rey, Villarreal were beaten by Real Sociedad in the same competition and they will definitely have to show some improvement.

Head coach Fran Escriba is sweating over the fitness of Victor Ruiz and Bruno Soriano (both ankle), while Roberto Soldado, Cedric Bakambu and Denis Cheryshev are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Asenjo – Mario, A. Gonzalez, Ruiz, Jaume Costa – dos Santos, Trigueros, Bruno, R. Soriano – Sansone, Pato.

Barcelona footballers didn’t have a lot to cheer about in the first part of the season, and the current campaign is in danger of turning into a major disappointment.

The Catalans currently trail leaders Real Madrid by three points, while los Blancos also have a game in hand, and they are now also in danger of crashing out of Copa del Rey.

Despite playing at full strength and having extra two men on the pitch in the final 15 minutes of the clash at San Mames, Barcelona suffered a 2-1 loss to Athletic Club, and they will certainly be under pressure in the return leg.

The fact that they face a difficult league game against Villarreal just three days later is an even bigger problem, especially when we know that the MSN trio is not in the best possible shape.

Messi, Suarez and Neymar have only taken part in several training sessions since returning from extended holidays and that is another important factor to consider.

The good news is there are no fresh injury worries for Luis Enrique, but we do expect to see a couple of changes to the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): ter Stegen – Roberto, Pique, Mascherano, Alba – Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic – Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

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