📏 Form Guide

Barcelona

WDWLWW

Barcelona, buoyed by their previous result, will be hoping for more of the same after the 0-2 La Liga success vs Espanyol.

In that game, Barcelona had 75% possession and 12 attempts on goal with 4 on target. For Barcelona, goals were scored by Lamine Yamal (53') and Fermín López (95'). For their opponents, Espanyol got 9 shots on goal with 1 of them on target.

Three or more goals per match were recorded in 5 of the past 6 fixtures where Barcelona have been involved. Their opponents scored 13 of them in these games whereas Barcelona managed a tally of 15.

Ahead of this meeting, Barcelona have not been beaten in their last 10 home league matches. They have been so resilient here.

Villarreal

DLWWWW 📈

Villarreal head into the game following a 3-0 La Liga win with the downing of Leganés in their previous game.

In that game, Villarreal had 38% possession and 17 shots at goal with 7 on target. For Villarreal, the goalscorers were Ayoze Pérez (23', 31') and Nicolas Pépé (45'). Leganes had 23 shots at goal with 6 on target.

Marcelino García Toral's Villarreal have turned their attacks into goals 11 times throughout their previous 6 matches. The number of goals that they have conceded during those matches comes to 7.

👥 Head to head

A look at their prior head-to-head meetings going back to 22/05/2022 shows that Barcelona have won 4 of these games and Villarreal 2, with the number of drawn games standing at 0.

There were also goals galore in those games, with 27 in all which averages out at 4.5 goals per meeting.

The last league fixture featuring the two was La Liga match day 6 on 22/09/2024 which ended up with the score at Villarreal 1-5 Barcelona.

In that game, Villarreal had 36% possession and 13 attempts at goal with 4 on target. Their only player to score was Ayoze Pérez (38').

Barcelona got 17 shots at goal with 10 on target. Robert Lewandowski (20', 35'), Pablo Torre (58') and Raphinha (74', 83') scored.

The referee was Mateo Busquets Ferrer.

ℹ️ Team News: Barcelona

Ferran Torres (Appendicitis), Jules Koundé (Hamstring injury) and Marc Bernal (Cruciate ligament tear) won’t be playing for Barcelona gaffer Hansi Flick.

In all likelihood, Barça may well go for a 4-2-3-1 formation for the game, beginning the first half with M. ter Stegen, Hector Fort, Pau Cubarsi, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casado, Gavi, Pau Victor, Fermin Lopez, Ansu Fati and Robert Lewandowski.

📰 Team News: Villarreal

Thanks to a largely healthy group, there’s only the one fitness worry for the Villarreal boss Marcelino García Toral to contend with. Ilias Akhomach (Cruciate ligament injury) won’t be in action.

We reckon that El Submarino Amarillo seem most likely to elect for a 4-4-2 lineup using Luiz Junior, Juan Foyth, Willy Kambwala, Logan Costa, Sergi Cardona, Yeremi Pino, Santi Comesana, Pape Gueye, Alejandro Baena, Nicolas Pepe and Ayoze Perez.

🔮 Prediction

We’ve got the feeling that Barcelona are likely to be able to create a decent number of chances and shots on target.

Conversely, Villarreal won’t find it easy to score themselves although we do see them managing to get on the scoresheet as well here.

Accordingly, we see a comfortable 3-1 margin for Barcelona when all’s said and done.

Andre Moura, 16:01 18/05/2025