La Liga leaders Barcelona visit third-placed Villarreal on Sunday afternoon in one of the biggest games of the season so far in Spain’s top flight.

Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have rebounded admirably since losing to Real Madrid in October’s Clásico. The Catalans have won seven straight in La Liga since and are now sitting four points clear of Los Blancos in the summit of the division.

Villarreal are not far behind, though, winning six straight to climb to third in the standings. Marcelino’s side are eight points back of Barcelona, but with two games in hand, they could easily jump Real Madrid in second and a victory on Sunday could put them in position to leapfrog the defending champions.

This could be a tough watch for La Liga president Javier Tebas. His plan, in the face of strong opposition, was for this monumental clash to take place in Miami until his project collapsed. Now, the Estadio de la Cerámica will witness a marquee match that could signify a turning point in the title race.

Here is Sports Illustrated’s guide to the game.

Villarreal vs. Barcelona Head-to-Head Record (Last Five Games)

Current Form (All Competitions)

It’s not an exaggeration to say this match couldn’t have come at a worse time for Villarreal, who are immersed in a significant injury crisis that’s worsened over the past week.

With Pape Gueye and Barcelona academy graduate Ilias Akhomach leaving for AFCON, Villarreal could be without eight players in the clash against Barça. Thomas Partey, Juan Foyth and Sergi Cardona are among the most notable players expected to miss the game through injury.

Still, the veteran Dani Parejo should get the nod after a two-week absence. Gerard Moreno also returned to team training this week and everything points to him being available on Sunday.

Despite the lengthy list of absences, the deadly attacking trio of Ayoze Pérez, Georges Mikautadze and Tajon Buchanan have the quality to compromise Barcelona’s defense.

Villarreal predicted lineup vs. Barcelona (4-4-2): Júnior; Navarro, Marín, Veiga, Pedraza; Buchanan, Comesaña, Parejo, Moleiro; Pérez, Mikautadze.

Flick will likely field the strongest XI at his disposal in this vital clash, especially considering Barça won’t be back in action until the calendar turns to 2026.

Pedri will be missing with a hamstring problem, potentially forcing Flick to turn to Frenkie de Jong alongside Eric García in midfield.

Flick has found his preferred back four in recent games and likely won’t tweak a backline that’s given Barça some defensive stability.

Up front, Ferran Torres could very well start over Robert Lewandowski, flanked by the game-changing duo of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, with Fermín López through the middle.

Barcelona Predicted Lineup vs. Villarreal (4-2-3-1): García; Koundé, Cubarsí, Martín, Balde; García, De Jong; Yamal, López, Raphinha; Torres.

There’s no denying Villarreal are capable of ending Barcelona’s winning run, especially at La Cerámica where fans will certainly play their part by making it a very hostile environment for the visitors.

But Villarreal’s injuries and Barcelona’s attacking quality will be the difference in the match. Yamal and Raphinha in particular, are creating chances for fun and with Torres having a career season, it’s hard to envision Villarreal containing them for 90 minutes.

Barcelona are an imperfect defensive side but they’ve considerably improved in that department recently. It won’t be a walk in the park but the Catalan backline will likely do enough to stifle the hosts attack.

It could be a hard-fought, intense clash but Barcelona should end the year collecting their eight consecutive league win.

Prediction: Villarreal 1–2 Barcelona

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