Barcelona and Villareal meet in a match in the 3rd round of La Liga. The confrontation will take place on Sunday, from 20:00, on Camp Nou.
Barcelona presents itself in the new season of La Liga after an extremely hectic summer. Lionel Messi seemed to no longer want to play for the only team he played for in his career, the Argentine being still dissatisfied with the management. The Catalan club gave up one of the most important players in the group, Luis Suarez, a decision that upset even more the best scorer in the history of Barcelona.
It seems that Messi has overcome his desire to leave Barcelona, at least for now. He is announced as the starter in the dispute with Villareal, the undefeated team in this start of the season.
The “yellow submarine” started in the new season with a draw, 1-1 at home with Huesca, the team from the second league. The next match, also played at home, brought the first success of this season for Villareal, 2-1 with Eibar.
After the humiliation in the Champions League, 2-8 against Bayern Munich, Barcelona played three more friendly matches, won against Gimnastic (3-1), Girona (3-1) and Elche (1-0 ).
Unai Emery certainly brought an extra value on the technical bench of Villareal. The mood in the Catalan camp does not seem to be very good, and the lack of official matches could have its say among the team. We bet on at least one goal scored by Villareal on Camp Nou, but also on at least one hundred sent on the goal area by the top of the guests, Paco Alcacer.
-Villareal’s last success against Barcelona dates back to March 2008, 2-1 at the Camp Nou (in the championship);
-Barcelona has won in six of the last seven direct duels with Villareal, and in four of them they have scored at least four times;
-At home, the Catalans have ten victories in a row against Villareal;
-In seven of the last ten direct confrontations at the Camp Nou, both teams have scored;
Barcelona: Neto – Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba – Busquets, Jong – Fati, Messi, Coutinho – Griezmann;
Absent: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Martin Braithwaite, Samuel Umtiti (injured);
Coach: Ronald Koeman;
Villareal: Asenjo – Gaspar, Mori, Torres, Estupinan – Chukwueze, Coquelin, Parejo, Gomez – Alcacer, Moreno;
Absent: Alberto Moreno, Ramiro Guerra, Ruben Pena (injured);
Coach: Unai Emery;
PREDICTION: Barcelona to win @ 1,53
