Barcelona will be looking to get back to the top of the La Liga table when they welcome struggling Villarreal in this game.

The Catalans are currently 2^nd in the league table at the moment and that is partly because the Spanish top flight has been full of upsets since the start of this season and these two teams have had their share of those.

Barca come into this game having failed to win either of their last two league games.

They were beaten by Real Betis at home on the 11^th of November before managing to escape another loss with a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid last time out.

Their 2-1 win over PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday should have provided them with some confidence however teams tend to play differently when they play in La Liga so it will be interesting to see how this game plays out.

Villarreal are struggling in the league this season as they currently languish in 16^th position.

It seems that their European campaign has given them too much work load and the earlier they exit the Europa League, the better for their domestic campaign.

The Yellow Submarines needed a goal from their prodigy Samuel Chukwueze to see off Real Betis in their last league game and they should feel they did well to see off a team that had beaten Barca the previous weekend.

Villarreal haven’t lost any of their last 6 games in all competitions however they have managed just a single win in those matches.

Unsurprisingly, bookmakers have priced Barcelona up as very short favourites while over 3.5 goals is currently trading odds-on so expect a feast of goals if the odds become reality.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Barcelona

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	PSV Eindhoven		1-2		Barcelona	28 Nov, 2018	Champions League
D	Atletico Madrid		1-1		Barcelona	24 Nov, 2018	Spanish Primera División
L	Barcelona		3-4		Real Betis	11 Nov, 2018	Spanish Primera División
D	Internazionale		1-1		Barcelona	6 Nov, 2018	Champions League
W	Rayo Vallecano		2-3		Barcelona	3 Nov, 2018	Spanish Primera División

Villarreal

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Villarreal		2-1		Real Betis	25 Nov, 2018	Spanish Primera División
D	Rayo Vallecano		2-2		Villarreal	11 Nov, 2018	Spanish Primera División
D	Rapid Vienna		0-0		Villarreal	8 Nov, 2018	Europa League
D	Villarreal		1-1		Levante	4 Nov, 2018	Spanish Primera División
D	Almeria		3-3		Villarreal	1 Nov, 2018	Spanish Copa del Rey

H2H

LAST FIVE GAMES					DATE	COMPETITION
Barcelona		5-1		Villarreal	9 May, 2018	Spanish Primera División
Villarreal		0-2		Barcelona	10 Dec, 2017	Spanish Primera División
Barcelona		4-1		Villarreal	6 May, 2017	Spanish Primera División
Villarreal		1-1		Barcelona	8 Jan, 2017	Spanish Primera División
Villarreal		2-2		Barcelona	20 Mar, 2016	Spanish Primera División

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera:

Spanish Primera Table

Spanish Primera Results