Villarreal vs Barcelona prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2025-12-20 15:15.
[p]Few would have predicted this clash between Villarreal and Barcelona would have early implications on the title race, but that’s certainly the case ahead of this weekend’s meeting.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]It’s been a standout campaign for Villarreal, who have accumulated a club record 35 points from their first 15 La Liga games (W11, D2, L2), a start which has rendered them dark horses in the title race. Marcelino’s men do start the round eight points behind Barcelona at the summit, but Villarreal have two games in hand, so they know that a victory here would put them in a solid position moving forward. A Wednesday night Copa del Rey defeat saw the Yellow Submarine slump to back-to-back competitive defeats, which hints that their momentum is beginning to slow, but six successive La Liga wins suggest quite the opposite.[/p]
[p]Despite the growing ambitions of the hosts, Barcelona are unlikely to be fazed and will arrive confident they can burst the home side’s bubble. The Catalan giants have won each of their last seven La Liga games and are on their longest scoring run in the competition (37 games) since October 2013. Each of those seven successive La Liga wins have been by a 2+ goal margin, showing just how strong Hansi Flick’s side have been in recent months and going some way to explaining why they’ll be spending Christmas at the La Liga summit regardless of the result here.[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]Villarreal have won two of their last three La Liga games against Barcelona (L1), twice as many victories as they had in their previous 29 top-flight H2Hs, but Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 16 away games against Villarreal in La Liga (W12, D4). [/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Villarreal have conceded ten of their 13 league goals this season after half-time. [/p]
[p]Only one side has scored more opening goals than Villarreal in La Liga this term (12 – W10, D2).[/p]
[p]Pre-round, only Elche (5) have conceded more away league goals after the 80th minute than Barcelona (4). [/p]
[p]Barcelona have scored beyond the 70th minute in five of their last six La Liga games. [/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Villarreal’s Ayoze Pérez is on his longest La Liga assist streak (three), but has netted in his last two league matches against Barcelona. Raphinha netted a brace last weekend against Osasuna, meaning four of his last five La Liga goals arrived after half-time. [/p]
[p]Villarreal duo Pape Gueye and Ilias Akhomach have departed for the Africa Cup of Nations, while Barcelona have no new absences to contend with. [/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Villarreal look on course for a great season, but their shortcomings in recent weeks make backing a Barcelona win look more attractive. [/p]
[p][i]Author: David HÂ [/i][/p]