Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Barcelona
Match Time & Date:
27 January 2024
17:30
Prediction: 2-0
Villarreal
Having survived Real Betis at Estadio Benito Villamarin at the weekend, Barcelona will look to keep their title hopes alive when they take on Villarreal at Estadio Olimpico on Saturday afternoon. Barca are eyeing their fourth consecutive league win, but the Yellow Submarine should not be written off just yet. Joao Felix, who sealed the victory against los Beticos, is pushing for a start, while all Raphinha, Marcos Alonso, and Gavi should miss out with injuries. Both Andreas Christensen and Joao Cancelo should be fit for the match.
Villarreal, on the other hand, dropped two points in a 1-1 draw with Mallorca and given their three-game winless run in the national championship, home win should be considered. Aissa Mendi is representing Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, while goalkeeper Pepe Reina is banned for the match. All Alfonso Pedraza, Ramon Terrats, Dani Parejo, Raul Albiol, Yeremi Pino, and Denis Suarez are sidelined with injuries.
Highlighted Player (Robert Lewandowski):
After scoring 36 goals in 59 league games for Znicz Pruskow, Robert Lewandowski joined Lech Poznan in June, 2008. The 184-cm-tall attacker scored 18 goals in 28 appearances for the club in the 2009/2010 Ekstraklasa campaign and during the season he was on Borussia Dortmund’s radar.
The Polish forward signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga side in June, 2010 and he quickly established himself as the team’s key attacker. Lewandowski was producing excellent performances with the Millionaires between 2010 and 2014 and it has to be noted that he won two Bundesliga trophies with the club (2010/2011, 2011/2012). He participated in the 2012/2013 Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, but the Millionaires were beaten by fellow Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in the title game.
However, he betrayed Borussia Dortmund fans in 2014 as he signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga giants. Lewandowski impressed in the 2016/2017 Bundesliga campaign as he scored 30 goals in 32 league games for Pep Guardiola’s troops. The Polish footballer represented his homeland at Euro 2016 in France and he scored one goal at the showpiece tournament in France.
Highlighted Team (Villarreal):
Villarreal CF was founded on 10th of March 1923. In the year 1998 Villarreal managed to reach the Primera Division for the first time in history of the club. After 1 season the club could not manage to stay in the league and go regulated to the Segunda Division. In the last couple of years Villarreal developed itself to a stable club in the Primera Division.
This first European succes was in 2003/2004 where the club managed to reach the semi finals in the UEFA cup. In 2004/2005 Villarreal end 3rd on the table in the Primera Division which was a highlight for the club.
The biggest succes was in 2006 when Villarreal managed to reach the semi finals in the Champions League. In the semi finals the club lost with only 1 goal difference against runner up Arsenal. Former known players for Villarreal are: Riquelme, Tomasson, Fernandez, Forlan and Pires.
Sabah Baku
Celje
AEK Larnaca
Partizan
Paks
CFR Cluj
Shakhtar Donetsk
Ilves
Trnava
Hacken
Legia
Aktobe
