FC Barcelona VS Villarreal

Barcelona welcome Villarreal at Camp Nou for this round 10 clash early Friday morning Beijing time. There is a massive difference in pure class between the two clubs! Barcelona are superior in all areas of the game. The biggest difference is, however, in offensive capability. They have scored whopping 21 goals - Villarreal have netted the ball just 12 times so far in LaLiga this season. Barca currently occupy the second place in the standings. The gap to the leaders, Real Madrid, is six point but in terms of expected points(xPTS) the two massive teams would have deserved the same number of points – 22 to be precise. I strongly believe Barca still have a pretty good chance of fighting for the LaLiga championship. Their defense is, in fact, better than Real Madrid's who have conceded eight goals – Barca have allowed just four! Three of these these were conceded last week-end in El Clasico in Madrid when Real Madrid beat them 3-1. Barca were underdogs in this match on the betting market and I do admit that Barcelona were not at their best in this clash, especially during the first 30 minutes of the game. Even so, they they recorded more than the hosts in expected goals(xG) 1.81-1.57. They also had 57% ball possession and recorded more goal attempts, shots on goal, passes, completed passes, attacks and dangerous attacks than Real. Indeed, this loss against the reigning LaLiga and Champions League champions does not worry me ahead of this games.

Moreover, Barca would have deserved a win in their most recent Champions League match against Inter Milan at home last Wednesday. They they had 56% ball possession and recorded more goal attempts, shots on goal, passes, completed passes, attacks and dangerous attacks but it was a 3-3 draw after a hugely entertaining and surprisingly open game. Even Inter attacked with some risk and did not just try to defend a draw. I want to mention that Inter definitely played above their normal level in this match. Even, so Barca are now in great risk of not qualifying for the Champions League play offs. This means winning LaLiga will be even more important for them.. Their coach, Barca legend and world champion Xavi must feel the pressure here but I trust his tactical and motivational skills here even though he is not an experienced coach. I think the bookies have reacted too heavily on the hosts two latest games without a win.. Villarreal, on the other hand, are a good team too and with some luck might of course do well in this game. They have had a solid defense this season in LaLiga allowing just three goals will surely try to defend hard here but Barca have so much offensive power that i do not believe them to shutdown the hosts. According to number of goals allowed (xGA) the visitors should have conceded nine goals.. Offensively Villarreal are not that great but tit is true that Barcelona have shown some vulnerabilities in defense in recent games. Even so Barcelona are very clear favorites here! They will, however, be missing Araujo, Christensen and Depau. As for Villlareal Coquelin, Foyth and Moreno are out. Albiol, Capoue, Kiko and Lo Celso are questionable at the time of wrirtng this.