Villarreal Vs Barcelona Betting Tips
The standout fixture in La Liga on Sunday sees leaders Barcelona travel to the Estadio de la Ceramica to take on a Villarreal side who could underline their own title credentials with a victory.
Barca head into the weekend sitting four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the standings and they have plenty of momentum behind them due to their ongoing six-match winning run across all competitions.
Villarreal are eight points behind the leaders in third, but if they win this match, as well as their two games in hand, they would leapfrog Barca at the top of the standings and belief would increase that they can be crowned La Liga champions for the very first time.
Villarreal vs Barcelona Betting Tips
- Barcelona to win and both teams to score @ 8/5
- Ayoze Perez to score at any time @ 2/1
Team news
Marcelino made several changes for Villarreal's shock Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Racing Santander during the week, but goalkeeper Luiz Junior and defender Renato Veiga are among those expected to return to the starting XI for this one.
Pau Cabanes (ligament), Logan Costa (ligament) and Gerard Moreno (muscle) all remain on the Yellow Submarine's treatment table.
Barca avoided a midweek cup shock, as a side that included Lamine Yamal, Frenkie de Jong and Marcus Rashford won 2-0 at third-tier CD Guadalajara.
Head coach Hansi Flick does not have many fitness concerns but Ronald Araujo (personal), Gavi (knee) and Dani Olmo (shoulder) are not expected to return on Sunday.
Tip 1: Barcelona to win and both teams to score @ 8/5
Villarreal are flying in La Liga where they have won six games on the bounce and have taken 22 points from a possible 24 on home soil at the Ceramica.
However, by the time they take to the field on Sunday it will be their first league match for more than two weeks and in the intervening period their form has stuttered, as they followed a Champions League defeat to Copenhagen with a Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Santander.
That is not the kind of form Marcelino will want to take into this clash with a rampant Barcelona team who have not only won six games on the spin across all competitions, but have also triumphed in seven consecutive La Liga matches since losing El Clasico to Real Madrid at the end of October.
Barca have scored a minimum of two goals in each of their last six games and their tally of 49 makes them far and away the leading scorers in La Liga.
Keeping clean sheets has not proved so easy for Flick's side, who have conceded in 15 of their last 18 fixtures, and Villarreal should get on the scoresheet, albeit in a losing effort.
Goals have certainly been a theme of recent meetings between this pair, as the last four head-to-heads alone have seen the net bulge a staggering 26 times.
Tip 2: Ayoze Perez to score at any time @ 2/1
Yamal, Rashford, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha all provide an obvious goalscoring threat for Barca, but Villarreal also have their own quality in the final third and the in-form Ayoze Perez could offer value in the anytime scorer market.
Former Newcastle and Leicester forward Perez netted 22 goals in his debut season for Villarreal last term and although injury issues have disrupted his efforts this campaign, he is showing signs of returning to his best.
Perez has five goal involvements in his last five La Liga appearances and was also on the scoresheet in the cup loss to Santander.
The 32-year-old also has previous when facing Barca, netting in both meetings between the sides last season, including the opener in Villarreal's 3-2 success in Catalonia in May.
Villarreal vs Barcelona Betting Tips
- Barcelona to win and both teams to score @ 8/5
- Ayoze Perez to score at any time @ 2/1
Match Odds
- Villarreal - 23/10
- Draw - 7/2
- Barcelona - 22/25
