Barcelona are heading into the match on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Sunday, while Villarreal defeated Osasuna 2-0, a day later.
Barcelona will be hoping to bounce back from the El Clasico defeat when they host Villareal in a La Liga fixture at Camp Nou on Thursday night. Blaugrana suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat against arch rivals Real Madrid on Sunday. Villarreal, meanwhile, are heading into the match on the back of a 2-0 win against Osasuna on Monday. The victory helped the visitors to move to seventh position in the standings, having collected 15 points from nine games, while the defeat pushed Barcelona down to the second spot, having pocketed 22 points, three adrift of the leaders Los Blancos.
focused on tomorrow’s match pic.twitter.com/qQujDFW5aX
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 19, 2022
Barcelona’s defeat to Carlo Ancelotti’s side was their first of the season in nine La Liga matches. Krim Benzema opened the scoring at Santiago Bernabeu before Federico Valverde doubled the lead with a 35th-minute strike. Although Ferran Torres pulled one back for Barcelona, Rodrygo converted a spot kick one minute into injury time to seal Real Madrid’s win. Prior to the defeat, Xavi’s side were unstoppable in the La Liga, winning seven consecutive games by an aggregate score of 20-1, since an opening-day stalemate with Rayo Vallecano.
Villarreal, on the other hand, took all three points against Osasuna at home courtesy of a brace from Arnaut Danjuma. It was Villarreal’s fourth league-win of the campaign. It was a solid performance from Unai Emery’s side as they recorded close to 60% ball possession and attempted nine shots on target, compared to just three by Osasuna. Prior to that, the Yellow Submarine edged past Austria Wien through Nicolas Jackson’s lone goal three minutes from time in a Europa Conference League fixture. The victory helped Villarreal to take their points tally to a perfect 12 from four games and seal qualification to the next round of the continental competition.
Barcelona’s injury list consists of Ronald Araujo, Memphis Depay and Andreas Christensen. Ansu Fati is likely to join Robert Lewandowski and Torres up front. Gerard Pique could start alongside Jules Kounde in the central defence. Right-back Hector Bellerin has recovered from an injury and is included in the squad for Thursday’s match. As for Villarreal, Gerard Moreno, Francis Coquelin and Juan Foyth are sidelined with injuries. Danjuma is expected to spearhead the attack with Morales and Baena in support.
Barcelona probable starting lineup: Ter Stegen, Alba, Pique, Kounde, Roberto, Pedri, Busquets, Gavi, Fati, Lewandowski, Torres
Villarreal probable starting lineup: Rulli, Pedraza, Torres, Albiol, Femenia, Parejo, Capoue, Lo Celso, Morales, Danjuma, Baena
Barcelona
Opponents | Score |
Real Madrid | 3-1 (L) |
Inter Milan | 3-3 (D) |
Celta Vigo | 1-0 (W) |
Inter Milan | 1-0 (L) |
Mallorca | 0-1 (W) |
Villarreal
Opponents | Score |
Osasuna | 2-0 (W) |
Austria Wien | 0-1 (W) |
Real Sociedad | 1-0 (W) |
Cadiz | 0-0 (D) |
Last 5 match results |
Barcelona 0-2 Villarreal |
Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona |
Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona |
Barcelona 4-0 Villarreal |
Villarreal 1-4 Barcelona |
The La Liga match between Barcelona and Villarreal will take place at the Camp Nou on Friday at 12:30 am IST.
Barcelona vs Villarreal | Key details |
Date | October 20 (Spain) |
Venue | Camp Nou |
Kickoff time in Spain | 9:00 pm (Thursday) |
Kickoff time in India | 12:30 am (Friday) |
For the football fans in India, the live coverage of the La Liga matches will be available on Voot Select and Sports 18 network. Meanwhile, those in Spain can catch the live action via DAZN and DAZN LaLiga.