La Liga title holders, FC Barcelona will be wanting to get back to winning ways as they endured a shocking 2-0 loss to Granada recently.
Villarreal, on the other end, is a spot above Barcelona in the league table with eight points to Barca’s seven. Therefore, the game for Ernesto Valverde becomes a must-win in order to ease off the pressure.
Match Details:
Date- Wednesday, September 25
Time of Kick-Off- 12:30 AM (IST)
Venue- Camp Nou
Barcelona Team News:
The Catalan club’s loss to Granda on Saturday signified their worst ever start in the Spanish league for 25 years.
Barcelona’s away form is worrying for their fans as they are yet to win a game since seven games away from Camp Nou.\
It’s evident that Lionel Messi’s unavailability due to a calf issue caused Valverde serious problems on the pitch.
Though the star player did come off the bench in the previous two games, he wasn’t able to make much of an impact.
However, Messi will be expected to start the game against Villareal as Barcelona will have no other intention but to secure all three points this time around.
Jordi Alba will miss out in the left-back position due to a hamstring injury, while Samuel Umtiti is yet to recover from his foot injury.
Ousmane Dembele was training up to his potential and can be expected to play a part in the league fixture versus Villarreal.
Nelson Semado could come in at left-back with Sergio Roberto guarding the right flank.
Villarreal Team News:
The Yellow Submarines had a slow start to the season as they went winless in the first three games of La Liga. A thrilling 4-4 draw versus Granda, followed by a defeat to Levante.
However, Villarreal was able to secure a vital point against Real Madrid at home. What soon followed was two consecutive wins against Leganes and Real Valladolid which makes Javi Calleja’s side the team in form.
Bruno Sproamp won’t be available in midfield due to injury, while Alberto Moreno also misses out due to the same.
Apart from those two, Calleja will be having plenty of options as the rest of the squad are match-fit.
Samuel Chukwueze and Karl Toko Ekambi can be expected to return to the sheet against Barca.
Moi Gomez and Santi Cazorla are expected to start for Villarreal, while Manu Trigueros and Mario Gasper come in as further options for Calleja.
Possible Lineups:
Barcelona- Ter Stegan; Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Semedo, Arthur, Busquets, De Jong; Messi, L Suarez, Griezmann
Villarreal-Asenjo; Quintilla, Torres, Albiol, Pena; Iborra, Cazorla, Gomez; Chukwuezu, Moreno, Ekambi
Key Points:
Barcelona has won each of their last eight home game against Villarreal in the league.
The last time Villarreal was able to register a win at Camp Nou was way back in 2008.
Talking about the players to watch out for, Gerard Moreno has been in sublime form for Villarreal with him scoring five goals in five appearances so far.
Santi Cazorla has been quite impressive for Villarreal as well, as the former Arsenal man has scored two and assisted two.
For Barcelona, it has to be none other than Lionel Messi who can finally start a game and in the process get on the scoresheet for the first time this season.
Luis Suarez at centre forward can pose a threat to the Villarreal defence as the Uruguayan has scored two goals in two appearances for Barcelona.
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BAR vs VIL Fantasy Team: