Barcelona vs Villarreal 25/09/19

25 September 2019

Barcelona and Villarreal will face-off at the Camp Nou with the visitors frantically trying to put an end to their disastrous 20-game winless La Liga (LL) run in H2Hs (D6, L14).

Rocked by a frustrating 2-0 away loss to Granada, the Catalans welcome a team whose last win at the Camp Nou dates back to 2007/08, looking to bounce back and return to winning ways. The reigning LL holders have not only won all eight of their previous home league H2Hs, but they’ve also racked up a nine-game LL home winning run ahead of this showdown. Six of those triumphs during the run have come by a margin of multiple goals while five saw the Blaugrana keep a clean sheet. However, with two defeats in the opening five rounds of the LL fixtures (W2, D1, L2), Ernesto Valverde is dancing on thin ice, and his adventure in Catalonia might draw to a close unless his side manage to win here.

Meanwhile, the visitors have drastically improved on their form from the opening stage of the season, putting together two victories ahead of this trip. Interestingly, while all three of their failures in the first three rounds of the 2019/20 LL campaign (D2, L2) produced over 2.5 goals and saw both teams score, both of their league wins this term have seen them score over 1.5 match goals and keep a blank sheet. But, Villarreal’s lack of consistency when away from home could be a major influence here, as the Yellow Submarine pulled off three wins in their last eight LL trips (W3, D1, L4). Curiously, each of their losses in that span has seen Villarreal concede 2+ match goals and score at least one goal in the first half.