Barcelona v Villarreal
Football: Spain, Primera Division
Sunday, 10th May 2009 - Kickoff 18:00

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Barcelona was fantastic at the weekend trashing Real Madrid 6-2 at the Santiago Bernebau but their midweek 1-1 draw against Chelsea was a poor one.

Barcelona are on the verge of winning their first title with Josep Guardiola are as a manager and the first of a possible three this season.

Barcelona will go into today’s game with a massive 7 point lead with only four games to play. Real Madrid's loss at Valencia means that Barcelona win the Spanish League with a victory here.

With the Copa Del Rey final in midweek, Guardiola might rotate a couple of his key players. Apart from Gabi Milito, Rafeal Marquez and Henry, Guardiola has a luxury of an entire squad to select from. Lional Messi who had a quiet game in midweek might be dropped to the bench giving unhappy Gudjohnsen a rare start.

Guardiola will start with his 4-3-3 formation. Wonderkid Bojan might be given a chance to partner Eto and Iniesta up front. Sergi Busquet, Gudjohnsen ,Xavi or Seydou Keita should start in midfield while Dani Alves, Carlos Puyol Pique and Ebidal should start in defense protecting Victor Valdes in goal.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side have been in poor form recently winning only once in their last six away games. In addition he will be without Captain Marcos Senna and and Santi Cazorla while Ariel Ibagaza and Bruno Soriano are major doubts ahead of this crucial clash.

Rossi who was on the bench last weekend against Sevilla is likely to start for me. He should partner Nihat up front while Matias Fernandez should make the starting lineup and partner Sebastian Equren in the heart of midfield. Robert Pires and Cani should start in both flanks completing the midfield four.

Deigo Lopes will start in goal and he will be protected by Diego Godin, Gonzalo, Angel Lopez and Joan Capdevila.

Looking at both lineups, you probably have to agree with me that Villareal are fairly weak in midfield with the absences of Marcos Senna.

With the movement of the Barcelona players being so fluent, I do see them causing trouble to this inconsistent Villareal side.

Key players to watch out for would definitely be Samuel Eto who currently has 27 goals under his name this season. He currently leads the scoring chart by 2 goals. Diego Lopez must also have a big night he if Villareal wish to walk away with anything.

Asian Handicap Betting Statistics

Under the asian handicap line this season, Barcelona are ranked 3rd on the table and have won and cover ten out of the possible seventeen games at home.

On the other hand Villarreal are ranked 17th on the AH line table winning only seven from a possible seventeen games, losing five of it.

The Betting Verdict

I have to fancy Barcelona walking away with all three points today as Villarreal are missing a couple of key players.

There is a possibility that Guardiola might rest a couple of his key players but the players that step are more than capable of pulling out a winning performance.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Barcelona to win

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Barcelona to win the game (Main Bet)

Consider trying over 2.75 goals as we often see plenty of goals in the Nou Camp

HANDICAP BETTING :

Barcelona to cover -1.25 head start.