Barcelona will be aiming to make it six La Liga victories in a row and open up a 11-point lead at the top of the table when they head to Villarreal on Sunday night.
The Catalan giants are currently in pole position to reclaim the title, while Villarreal are sixth in the division, four points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid in the battle for a Champions League spot.
The 3-1 defeat at Elche was certainly a shock and a real setback for Quique Setien’s side, but they will now have the chance to bounce back against the best team in La Liga, according to the league table at least.
Villarreal are still firmly in the battle for the top four, currently sitting sixth in the table, four points behind fourth-placed Atletico, but they are only three points ahead of 10th-placed Mallorca, so a slide down the table could occur if their disappointing run of form continues.
Setien’s team have largely been strong at home this season, picking up 19 points from nine matches, which is the fourth-best record in the division, but they will be welcoming a Barcelona side with the best away record, having picked up an impressive 27 points from 10 matches on their travels.
Villarreal, who have not finished fourth in La Liga since 2015-16, have lost six of their last seven league games against Barcelona, but they did famously win 2-0 at Camp Nou last season.
Barcelona’s failure to qualify for the knockout round of the Champions League was a huge blow, but aside from the European disappointment, it has been a hugely positive campaign for the club thus far.
Xavi won his first trophy as Barcelona manager last month, beating Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup, while the Catalan outfit are chasing success in the Copa del Rey and Europa League.
Blaugrana will face Real Madrid in a two-legged semi-final in the Spanish Cup, while they will take on English giants Manchester United over two legs in a Europa League knockout round playoff, with the first fixture between the two teams set to take place at Camp Nou next week.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said that the team’s main focus this season is La Liga, though, and they are currently in a commanding position, sitting top of the table on 53 points, eight points clear of second-placed Real Madrid on the same number of matches (20).
Real Madrid are currently in Morocco competing in the Club World Cup, so Barcelona will have the chance to move 11 points clear at the summit on Sunday, and they have won each of their last five in La Liga and their last 10 matches in all competitions during a brilliant run.
Last time out, Xavi’s side were 3-0 winners over Sevilla at Camp Nou, with Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinha all finding the back of the net in the second half of the contest.
Villarreal were missing Alfonso Pedraza, Nicolas Jackson, Giovani Lo Celso and Filip Jorgensen against Elche last weekend through injury and that is again expected to be the case for this match.
The Yellow Submarine have no fresh fitness issues, and there is likely to be a return in the middle of the defence for Pau Torres, who was not involved against Elche.
Head coach Setien is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the disappointing performance last time out, with the bulk of the XI set to retain their spots, including Gerard Moreno, who netted his side’s goal in the loss to the division’s basement side.
As for Barcelona, Ousmane Dembele is out until the middle of March with a hamstring problem, while Sergio Busquets is also facing a spell on the sidelines with the ankle issue that he suffered against Sevilla.
Ansu Fati for Busquets might be the only change from the side that started last time out, which would see Gavi move into a midfield position for the visitors.
Ronald Araujo should again be joined in the middle of the defence by Andreas Christensen, with Alba potentially keeping out Alejandro Balde at left-back.
Robert Lewandowski has scored 23 goals during an excellent first season at Barcelona, and the Poland international will again lead the line for the division leaders this weekend.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Reina; Foyth, Albiol, P Torres, Mojica; Capoue, Parejo; Chukwueze, Baena, Pino; G Moreno
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Alba; Pedri, De Jong, Gavi; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Fati
By Matt Law
