Barcelona will welcome Villarreal at the Nou Camp this Thursday night as they look to secure a convincing win in La Liga. The Catalan outfit suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss versus Real Madrid in the Clasico recently which will drain their confidence ahead of this clash against the Yellow Submarine.
Xavi will set his side up in a 4-3-3 formation once again and could be inclined to name a strong team for this game. Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Jordi Alba will all get a chance to play from the start as Xavi looks to find the winning formulate later this week.
4-3-3 Barcelona Predicted Lineup To Face Villarreal
Defence
Marc-André ter Stegen will operate in goal for the Catalan club after shipping in three goals versus Los Blancos in his last league outing. Eric Garcia will resume his centre-back partnership with Jules Kounde at the heart of Barca’s backline as they focus on keeping things solid against Villarreal during the 90 minutes.
Sergi Roberto could get the nod to start at right-back while Jordi Alba fills in on the other flank as the left-back. Xavi could give both of them the license to get forward at every chance they get and cause a few problems for the opposition in the final third.
Alejandro Balde might drop to the bench and offer cover for the full-back spots.
Midfield
Pedri, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong would make up Barcelona’s midfield. Their main responsibility would be to dominate the ball at the centre of the park and engineer enough clear-cut chances to win this clash at home.
Franck Kessie will be available for selection on the bench as he waits for his chance to make an impact in the second 45 minutes if required.
Attack
Ansu Fati will try to put his pace to good use on the left flank while Ferran Torres tries to give a good account of himself from the right after the Spaniard’s goal-scoring cameo off the bench versus Real Madrid last weekend.
Robert Lewandowski will lead the charge for the Catalan giants on the attacking end of the field. He has to find a way to find the back of the net and make a real difference against Villarreal this Thursday night.
Both Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha could be demoted to the bench after their lackluster display in the Clasico. However, Memphis Depay will be sidelined for this game because of a thigh problem.
