Villarreal vs Barcelona
League leaders Barcelona will make the three-hour trip down the coast to Villarreal on Sunday in search of another win to keep their 100 per cent run going.
Hansi Flick has made the perfect start to life as Barca boss, leading his team to five consecutive La Liga victories, last week winning the Catalan Derby away to Girona. But he has just suffered a setback in Europe, losing 2-1 away to Monaco on Thursday night.
Marcelino’s Villarreal are one of three teams on 11 points chasing Barcelona, and they are in good company alongside Real and Atletico Madrid, and the Yellow Submarine will take some sinking on Sunday.
But we’ll see what Flick’s Barca are made of, taking on a tough and ambitious opponent only three days after suffering a European reality check.
After installing Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid as clear favourites to win the title, the early La Liga 2024 betting odds have made a steady move towards Barcelona, and another win in Castellon will continue that trend.
Talking Points
Villarreal’s new-look attack is firing
Under Marcelino, the Yellow Submarine finished eighth last season, and their La Liga 2024 results have been highly impressive so far, and that after losing some key players in the summer.
Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth was the second top scorer in the league last season, just a goal behind Girona’s Artem Dovbyk and ahead of Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski.
At 6’4”, Sorloth is strong in the air and a superb target man with a fierce shot, so he’s a big presence to lose. But this season, the line has been led by former Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez who, with three goals, has only Lewandowski ahead of him on four.
The 5’10” striker is quick off the mark and can turn a defender inside out. Now at 31, he has experience to boot as part of Spain’s Euro 2024 winning squad and, after two seasons at Real Betis, he made the switch to Villarreal in the summer.
Perez scored a 95th-minute winner away to Real Mallorca last week ,as the Yellow Submarine nicked a well-deserved 2-1 win, raining 21 shots down on the Mallorca goal, and the new man could turn out to be one of the signings of the summer.
He has two exciting forwards alongside him in Yeremy Pino and Alex Baena, who has made two assists, both impressing this season. With the experienced Dani Parejo pulling the strings in midfield, this is a team which likes to play on the front foot.
A new challenge for Barca
Losing in the Champions League away to Monaco isn’t a disaster per se, but it presents the Blaugrana with a new experience under Flick, the need to bounce back from a loss.
In fairness it wasn’t a regulation type of defeat, one where your team has suddenly “thrown one in,” because the Blaugrana played the vast majority of the game with 10 men after Eric Garcia had been red carded in the 10th minute. The midfielder could have no complaints because he clearly denied Takumi Minamino a goal-scoring opportunity.
Monaco went ahead soon after, but another moment of magic from the 17-year-old phenomenon, Lamine Yamal, hauled Barca back into the game. The La Roja star timed his run brilliantly to stay onside before hitting a sweet strike to beat the Monaco keeper.
A late goal from the French made it a disappointing night but not one to worry about as, in the new Champions League format, it will be a huge surprise if the Catalans don’t qualify automatically for the knockout phase.
If I were a Barca fan, I’d worry about two things, the absence of summer signing Dani Olmo, who is sidelined for three to four weeks with injury, and the early signs that this young team can pick up red cards.
Garcia’s sending off followed Ferran Torres, who suffered the same fate against Girona. And when the pressure increases, the Catalans will need to keep their discipline.
History
Barcelona have had the better of the head-to-head meetings with Villarreal, winning 32 of the last 52 meetings, while there have been 10 draws and 10 wins for the Yellow Submarine.
Both games were blessed with goals last term, with Barca winning this fixture 3-4 before Villarreal took all three points from Catalonia with a 3-5 victory.
In terms of recent form, Barcelona’s five-match winning run in the league is still untouched, but Flick has finally tasted defeat in Europe, while Villarreal are nicely unbeaten in the league with three wins and two defeats.
Betting Tip
Villarreal are at odds of 3.54 to upset the Barcelona applecart on Sunday with the draw at 3.75, while the Blaugrana are odds on at a SBOTOP price of 1.72.
It promises to be an entertaining 100 minutes or so, and I’m looking for plenty of goals from these two attacking sides.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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