Barcelona are out to make up for their Copa del Rey elimination when they get back to La Liga action against Villarreal on Saturday. The Catalan giants went down 4-2 to Athletic Club in midweek while El Submarino Amarillo drew with Mallorca last time out and Xavi has recognized that the pressure is on for him to deliver some silverware this season with only La Liga and the UEFA Champions League left to play for with Napoli the Blaugrana's European adversaries. Barca beat Real Betis last week but both of their losses in La Liga have come in Catalonia while Spotify Camp Nou is undergoing work. Speaking of work, Marcelino has a job on his hands to turn Villarreal around having seen Quique Setien and Pacheta both fail before him. Struggling in 14th and on a four-game winless run, the visitors badly need an unexpected away success here having only won twice on the road so far.
Golazo Starting XI Newsletter
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Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 27 | Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys – Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Live Stream: ESPN+
- Odds: Barcelona -350; Draw: +480; Villarreal +700
Team news
Barcelona: Raphinha, Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso, Gavi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are all out injured while Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde are also expected to be unavailable. Ronald Araujo could return while Joao Cancelo was a substitute against Athletic. Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres should partner Robert Lewandowski up top with Joao Felix suffering from a poor run of form recently.
Potential Barcelona XI: Pena; Roberto, Araujo, Kounde, Cancelo; Pedri, F de Jong, Gundogan; Torres, Lewandowski, Yamal
Villarreal: Pepe Reina is suspended while Alfonso Pedraza, Ramon Terrats, Dani Parejo, Raul Albiol, Juan Foyth, Yeremy Pino and Denis Suarez are all out injured. Marcelino could go with Alexander Sorloth and Gerard Moreno leading the attack and Alex Baena out wide while Santi Comesana and Francis Coquelin could start ahead of Etienne Capoue in the middle.
Potential Villarreal XI: Jorgensen; Femenia, Bailly, Cuenca, A Moreno; Akhomach, Comesana, Coquelin, Baena; G Moreno, Sorloth
Prediction
This one is likely to be tight but should finish with Barca winning by a narrow margin which should keep the pressure off of Xavi -- just. A draw should not be ruled out given Villarreal's need for points and Barca's flaky form. Pick: Barcelona 2, Villarreal 1.
