Ansu Fati will return to the starting lineup when Barcelona take on Villarreal at Spotify Camp Nou on Thursday night.
Barcelona were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in their last league outing, and they will be desperate for a strong reaction against Villarreal on Thursday. Xavi Hernandez’s side are second in the league table, and they will want to reduce the gap to the leaders this week.
Meanwhile, Villarreal have been quite inconsistent this season, and Unai Emery’s side are seventh in the league table. They will look to pull off an upset here. Villarreal will have seen Barcelona’s inconsistencies in the last couple of outings and will fancy their chances of getting something out of this contest.
The Catalan giants have confirmed their squad for the upcoming Villarreal clash. Memphis Depay, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo are the only absentees for the home side. Meanwhile, Hector Bellerin has returned to the squad, but Sergi Roberto is expected to be given the nod ahead of him for the right-back position.
In the centre-back position, Gerard Pique is expected to partner Jules Kounde. Eric Garcia has been error-prone this season. And the youngster could be dropped to the bench here. Jordi Alba impressed with his cameo in the last outing, and he could start ahead of Alejandro Balde as the left-back.
Barcelona vs Villarreal Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats
Meanwhile, Xavi leapt to Sergio Busquets’s defence in his pre-match press conference. The Barcelona boss said, “When we lose everyone gets criticized, Busquets is still an important player for us, he’s the captain and he always helps us, Busquets and all the captains, we have a great dressing room.”
Xavi also congratulated Gavi for winning the Kopa award this week. He said, “For me, the award is much more than deserved.” Gavi and Pedri are set to start in the middle of the park, with Busquets being the defensive midfielder.
Up ahead in attack, Raphinha and Ousmane Dembele have been quite underwhelming in their recent outings. And it will not be surprising if Xavi decided to drop them for the clash against Villarreal.
The away side have been quite impressive defensively, and they have conceded just three goals in La Liga so far. Barcelona will have to work hard to break them down, and promising youngster Ansu Fati is expected to come into the front three alongside Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, who scored in El Clasico. Finally, Marc-Andre ter Stegen will start in goal.
Predicted Barcelona XI: ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, Pique, Alba; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Torres, Lewandowski, Fati
