Villareal set for top clash - analysis & predictions

Barcelona wants to consolidate its position

Published on 18.12.2025 15:20.

A real "cracker" is on the program in La Liga next weekend, namely a duel between two teams that are currently in the top 3. Of course, we have analyzed this match in more detail as part of our Villareal - Barcelona betting tip. Kick-off for this clash is at 4:15pm CET on 21 December.

FC Villarreal - FC Barcelona: 21.12.2025 - 15:15

both teams to score - yes 1.28
Low risk

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Tip 2 1.90
Average risk

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Betting tips today All betting tips

Villareal hoping for home advantage
The home side recently celebrated 6 wins in a row
Villareal were eliminated from the Copa del Rey during the week

Barcelona leads the table
Barcelona has the best offense in the league
The Catalans have had problems defensively of late

Result tip

1:2

We expect a win for the Catalans in this top match.

Racket Primera Division
#Place	Team	WGames	WWins	DDraw	LDefeats	GoalsGoals	+/-	PointsPoints
1	Real Madrid	6	6	0	0	14:3	11	18
2	FC Barcelona	5	4	1	0	16:3	13	13
3	FC Villarreal	6	4	1	1	12:5	7	13
4	Espanyol Barcelona	6	3	2	1	10:9	1	11
5	Athletic Bilbao	6	3	1	2	7:7	0	10
6	FC Getafe	6	3	1	2	7:8	-1	10
7	FC Elche	5	2	3	0	7:4	3	9
8	Atletico Madrid	6	2	3	1	9:7	2	9
9	Betis Sevilla	6	2	3	1	9:7	2	9
10	Deportivo Alavés	6	2	2	2	6:6	0	8
11	FC Valencia	6	2	2	2	8:10	-2	8
12	FC Sevilla	6	2	1	3	10:10	0	7
13	CA Osasuna	5	2	0	3	4:4	0	6
14	Rayo Vallecano	6	1	2	3	7:9	-2	5
15	Celta Vigo	6	0	5	1	5:7	-2	5
16	Real Sociedad	6	1	2	3	6:9	-3	5
17	UD Levante	6	1	1	4	10:13	-3	4
18	Real Oviedo	5	1	0	4	1:8	-7	3
19	RCD Mallorca	6	0	2	4	5:11	-6	2
20	Girona	6	0	2	4	3:16	-13	2
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Last 5 games FC Villarreal home vs. FC Barcelona away
FC Villarreal Home	FC Barcelona Away
FC Copenhagen 2:3	0:2 Guadalajara
FC Getafe 2:0	3:5 Betis Sevilla
RCD Mallorca 2:1	3:0 FC Chelsea
Rayo Vallecano 4:0	2:4 Celta Vigo
Manchester City 0:2	3:3 Club Brugge

Villareal sniff at the Champions League - Prediction & betting strategies

In our opinion, Villareal FC can be absolutely satisfied with their season so far. The northern Spanish side are in third place in La Liga ahead of this Villareal - Barcelona betting tip, with only Sunday's opponents Barcelona and Real Madrid having done better so far this season. This puts them on course to be part of the Champions League again next season. Things didn't go well in the top flight in 2025/26 anyway with 5 defeats and a draw from 6 games, so they will probably want to put that behind them in 2026/27. But let's get back to the results in La Liga in this Villareal - Barca betting tip. And these were more or less outstanding, if you know the demands of the home side. Villareal FC have won all of their last 6 games. The form table - the statistics of the last 5 games - even shows Villareal at the top, with only Barcelona able to keep up with the home side in this period. We can therefore expect a close duel on Sunday. It is also a fact that Villareal have currently played two games less than their opponents who are higher in the table and could move up to second place if they win two of their supplementary games. The fact that a home game is on the agenda next Sunday is a major advantage for Villareal FC. The home record ahead of this Villareal - Barcelona betting tip is impressive. They have won 7 of their 8 home games so far and coach Marcelino's team have yet to lose.

Most recently, they celebrated a 2-0 home win against in-form Getafe and also narrowly defeated Mallorca (2-1), before also winning away to Real Sociedad (3-2). During the week, however, the strong record began to show cracks. In the Copa del Rey, Marcelino's side fell to a 2-1 defeat at second division leaders Racing Santander. It will be interesting to see what this defeat will do to the confidence of the La Liga 3rd-placed team. Bitter: No fewer than 5 squad players will not be available for this top match. It is not least this weakening of the squad that leads us to believe that it will be extremely difficult for Villareal FC to pick up a point despite their current form in La Liga.

Last 5 results FC Villarreal
Date	League	Home	Visitor	Result	Form
17.12.2025	Copa del Rey	Racing Santander	FC Villarreal	2:1 (2:0)	N
17.12.2025 - Copa del Rey
10.12.2025	UEFA Champions League	FC Villarreal	FC Copenhagen	2:3 (0:1)	N
10.12.2025 - UEFA Champions League
06.12.2025	Primera Division	FC Villarreal	FC Getafe	2:0 (1:0)	S
06.12.2025 - Primera Division
03.12.2025	Copa del Rey	CA Antoniano	FC Villarreal	0:0 (0:0)	U
03.12.2025 - Copa del Rey
30.11.2025	Primera Division	Real Sociedad	FC Villarreal	2:3 (0:1)	S
30.11.2025 - Primera Division

Villarreal FC

System: 4-3-3.

Luiz Júnior

Pau Navarro Rafa Marín Renato Veiga Alfonso Pedraza

Tajon Buchanan Santi Comesaña Pape Gueye

Alberto Moleiro Nicolas Pépé Georges Mikautadze

Bet on an away win for FC Barcelona with the following provider - odds: 1.90

To Slotshammer

Barcelona hoping for their next success - analysis & betting strategies

In the previous season, FC Barcelona shone as champions and cup winners in Spain, only missing out on the treble. Before this Villareal - Barcelona betting tip, however, they are well on their way to repeating the double. During the week, they kept the upper hand in the Copa thanks to an - admittedly laborious - 2-0 win against Guadalajara and secured their place in the next round. In La Liga, they have recently recorded 6 full wins in a row and currently have a four-point lead over their closest rivals Real Madrid with the same number of games played. Only in the Champions League is the Catalan engine not really getting going. They have only won three of their six games, including the duels with Frankfurt (2:1), Olympiakos (6:1) and Newcastle (2:1). At the same time, they failed to score against PSG (1:2) and Chelsea (0:3) and secured a lucky draw against Brugge (3:3). There are therefore opportunities to challenge or defeat the Spanish league leaders. Conversely, Barca recently proved that they can also take on the top opponents in the championship. Exhibit A: the 3:1 win against Atlético Madrid at the beginning of December. Hansi Flick's team also emerged victorious against Betis (5:3) and stragglers Osasuna (2:0). However, both defeats so far in the 2025/26 season have come in away matches. This was the case in the games against Real Madrid (1:2) and Sevilla FC, against whom they lost 4:1.

A win bet on the visitors as Villareal - Barcelona betting tip seems risky to us due to this fact and the Catalans' not always stable defense. It is also a fact that they have conceded three times as many goals in 8 away games as in 9 home games. Athey were also less successful offensively (21 goals) away than at home (28). There is therefore much to suggest that a tough piece of work awaits next Sunday. However, the visitors are certainly capable of scoring a goal or two, as FC Barcelona have by far the best offense in La Liga, having already scored 49 goals.

Last 5 results FC Barcelona
Date	League	Home	Visitor	Result	Form
16.12.2025	Copa del Rey	Guadalajara	FC Barcelona	0:2 (0:0)	S
16.12.2025 - Copa del Rey
13.12.2025	Primera Division	FC Barcelona	CA Osasuna	2:0 (0:0)	S
13.12.2025 - Primera Division
09.12.2025	UEFA Champions League	FC Barcelona	E. Frankfurt	2:1 (0:1)	S
09.12.2025 - UEFA Champions League
06.12.2025	Primera Division	Betis Sevilla	FC Barcelona	3:5 (1:4)	S
06.12.2025 - Primera Division
02.12.2025	Primera Division	FC Barcelona	Atletico Madrid	3:1 (1:1)	S
02.12.2025 - Primera Division

FC Barcelona

System: 4-3-3.

Joan García

Jules Koundé Pau Cubarsí Gerard Martín Alejandro Balde

Eric García Pedri Raphinha

Lamine Yamal Marcus Rashford Ferran Torres

5 last games in direct comparison
Date	League	Home	Visitor	Result
18.05.2025	Primera Division	FC Barcelona	FC Villarreal	2:3 (2:1)
18.05.2025 - Primera Division
22.09.2024	Primera Division	FC Villarreal	FC Barcelona	1:5 (1:2)
22.09.2024 - Primera Division
27.01.2024	Primera Division	FC Barcelona	FC Villarreal	3:5 (0:1)
27.01.2024 - Primera Division
27.08.2023	Primera Division	FC Villarreal	FC Barcelona	3:4 (2:2)
27.08.2023 - Primera Division
12.02.2023	Primera Division	FC Villarreal	FC Barcelona	0:1 (0:1)
12.02.2023 - Primera Division

Comparison statistics last 10 events

FC Villarreal		:	FC Barcelona
5 Wins 8
1 Draw 1
4 Defeats 1
16 Goals scored 28
13 Goals received 14
12 Shots on target 8

FC Villarreal

54%

Ball possession

83%

Accuracy of passes

51%

Duels
won

FC Barcelona

57%

Duels
won

91%

Accuracy of passes

71%

Ball possession

FC Villarreal

24
Corners

17
Shots on target

23
Goal kicks
next to the goal

13
Goal kicks
blocked

34
Goal kicks
in the penalty area

19
Goal kicks
outside the penalty area

6
Offside

4
yellow cards

0
red cards

FC Barcelona

22
Corners

35
Shots on target

29
Goal kicks
next to the goal

23
Goal kicks
blocked

54
Goal kicks
in the penalty area

33
Goal kicks
outside the penalty area

11
Offside

6
yellow cards

1
red cards

Comparison of goal statistics of the last 10 matches

FC Villarreal

Goals scored

Goals received

ø 1,60

per game

Goal difference

7 / 10

Games with goals

FC Barcelona

Goals scored

Goals received

ø 2,80

per game

+14

Goal difference

9 / 10

Games with goals

Odds probabilities

3.75

1.28

under 2.5 goals 25.45%

over 2.5 goals 74.55%

2.12

1.73

under 3.5 goals 44.40%

over 3.5 goals 55.60%

1.50

2.62

under 4.5 goals 63.59%

over 4.5 goals 36.41%

1.30

3.40

both teams to score - yes 72.34%

both teams to score - no 27.66%

What is our forecast?

Overall, FC Barcelona must of course be seen as the favorite in almost every league match. We would therefore risk a win bet for next Sunday. Accordingly, our recommendation for this top match is: bet 2.