Villarreal vs Barcelona
Expect La Liga highlights as the run-in to the 2020/21 campaign hots up.
Some of them could well arrive at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Sunday afternoon.
At home, with or without fans, Villarreal can be a tough nut to crack, as shown when they held reigning champions Real Madrid to a La Liga draw earlier this season.
Now they take on a Barcelona side fresh from securing the first silverware of the season as they clinched the Copa del Rey in style.
Talking Points
In this one, Villarreal could possibly have an eye on their forthcoming Europa League semi-final against Arsenal.
It’s the sixth time coach Unai Emery has reached this stage and he has also gone onto make the final itself four times, of which he has won three – all with Sevilla.
After taking the Gunners to the 2019 Europa League final, where they lost to an Eden Hazard-inspired Chelsea, Emery will be out to get some revenge against the club which sacked him a few months into last season.
That means this clash, with title-chasing Barca (who need to win to keep alive their hopes), may not be his priority.
Seventh placed Villarreal will finish no lower than seventh and no higher than fifth, both offer Europa League football next term, so may put the league on the backburner.
Barcelona certainly won’t.
After being 11 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid at one stage, the two biggest questions going forward for them will be whether or not Lionel Messi and manager Ronald Koeman continue at the club, although the Copa del Rey success will only have helped the manager’s position after a difficult time.
They are now five points behind Atletico but have a game in hand and host the leaders on May 8 knowing if they triumph and win their remaining games this season, they will be champions.
In the week in which the club issued a statement about signing up to the European Super League, stating it was a “historic opportunity” to guarantee football’s financial sustainability – they would say that given their reported debts – they turned on the style against Getafe, recording a 5-2 success.
Koeman frankly admitted afterwards he doesn’t think Barca are the strongest team in the title race.
However, it is in their hands and an eighth Pichichi trophy is well in Messi’s sights after his double in that match.
That moved the Argentine onto 25 goals for the season in the league, four goals clear of Karim Benzema in the scoring charts. Gerard Moreno is back on 20, while Luis Suarez has 19.
Having finished top scorer in Spain’s top tier in 2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20, Messi is on course for an eighth Pichichi of his career.
For the home side, Pervis Estupinan and Vincete Iborra are injured and their main threat will again probably be Paco Alcacer, who netted their goal in a midweek 2-1 defeat to Alaves.
For the title-chasers, both Neto and Ousmane Dembele are close to a return to action, although neither are expected to be handing a starting berth.
So, it’s Emery’s Villarreal against Koeman’s Barcelona and it could come down to who makes Europe and who makes domestic bliss their respective priorities.
History
Not since 2008 have Villarreal beaten Barcelona – that was 25 meetings ago.
Barca have won their last three clashes by an aggregate score of 10-2.
The fixture before that, however, was this match two season ago which resulted in an incredible 4-4 draw.
It was a match the Yellow Submarine – Europa League semi-finalists – should have won but conceded last-gasp goals to Messi and Suarez.
Betting Tip
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Villarreal vs Barcelona | Barcelona First Half Asian Handicap -0.50 @ 2.42 |
| April 25, 22:15 (GMT+8) |
Barca are clearly the team to back with the SBOTOP La Liga betting odds.
Priced 1X2 @ 1.74 and Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 2.29, a re-run of their earlier season outcome – which saw Barcelona run out 4-0 winners – will pay out with correct score @ 34.00.
Villarreal could be seen as an attractive offering, though, with odds of 1X2 @ 4.10 and Asian Handicap +0.50 @ 2.23.
There needs to be a fair few goals to earn a decent payday with over 3.00 goals available @ 1.98, over 3.25 goals @ 2.23, total goal 2-3 @ 2.07 and total goal 4-6 @ 2.72.
Double chance Villarreal or Draw is available @ 2.02 and an actual 1X2 Draw is on offer @ 3.95.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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