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Barcelona hosts Villareal at Camp Nou on September 24, 2019, in Spanish La Liga action.
FC Barcelona
Football Club Barcelona was founded way back in 1899 and has become the symbol of Catalan culture. In Spanish football, they have won a record 74 trophies in their history. These include 26 La Liga titles, 30 Copa del Rey, 13 Supercopa de Espana, and 2 Copa de La Liga. When it comes to the international scene, Barca has won 20 European and world titles.
In its history, Barcelona has been represented by some of the sport’s greatest players. Barcelona has a record 11 Ballon d’Or winners and 7 FIFA World Player of the Year winners, also a record. They are one of the founders of the Primera Division and have never been relegated from the top division since its creation in 1929. In 2009, they became the first Spanish football team to win the intercontinental treble- winning the La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona leads the league in Goal Difference at +5 goals. They have scored a league-leading 12 goals this season and are ranked #1 in assists with 11. The defense has been their problem as the defending champions have allowed already seven goals this season, only 15th overall in the La Liga.
Antoine Griezmann has scored two goals and has two assists in four matches played. Ansu Fati has played in three matches and he has contributed two goals and one assist. Luis Suarez also has two goals for Barca while Sergi Roberto and Carles Perez each have a pair of assists for the champions.
Villarreal CF
Villarreal CF was founded in 1923 and is considered a low profile team but has challenged heavyweights like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for trophies during the past decade. Last season though, Villarreal finished just 14th in the final La Liga table and they are hoping to bounce back with a vengeance this season under Javier Calleja as head coach.
They have never won the La Liga title but finished as runners-up in 2007/08. In the lower divisions, they finished second in the Segunda Division during the 2012/13 season and twice finished as second placers in the Segunda B Division. Villarreal won the Tercera Division in 1970 and are two-time winners of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. As of August 2019, they are ranked 22nd in the UEFA’s Coefficient Rankings.
Villarreal is ranked 6th in the Spanish La Liga with a Goal Difference of +2. They have scored a total of 10 goals this season, which ranks them next to Barca in the leaderboard. They have conceded eight goals on the year and that’s 19th in the league. Villarreal is third in assists with a total of seven on the season.
Gerald Moreno is having a fine start with five goals scored in four matches played. Moi Gomez has two goals and one assist while Santi Cazorla has one goal and two assists for Villarreal. Goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo has four saves in his lone appearance so far for Villareal.
Who Wins?
FC Barcelona is currently 7th in the La Liga ladder with a record of 2-1-2 SU in their first five matches. After playing to a 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona suffered a 0-2 defeat to newly-promoted side Grenada in their last outing, a loss which Luis Suarez called “worrying”. Despite that, they head to this matchup as heavy soccer betting favorites.
Villarreal is 4th in the standings with a record of 2-2-1 SU. They are coming off back to back wins over Leganes and Real Valladolid, winning the two matches by an aggregate score of 5-0.
Head to head, Barcelona has not lost to Villareal in their last 10 matches. Barca is 7-3-0 SU against Villarreal in their last 10 encounters. Barcelona is 2-1-0 SU in their last three encounters although these teams figured in a 4-4 tie during their most recent meeting last April 2, 2019.
Barca is the reigning La Liga Champions. They have finished on top of the league in eight out of the last 11 years including the last two. They entered the 2019/20 season as the soccer betting favorites to retain their title. However, the champions are off to a slow start and maybe looking at a long season. But against Villarreal whose defense is as bad as Barca’s right now, I think the best offensive team in the league is going to carve out a win at their home field. Prediction: FC Barcelona
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