Barcelona will look to put their El Clasico woes behind them when they host Villarreal for Thursday night's La Liga encounter at Camp Nou.
The Blaugrana suffered their first defeat of the ongoing La Liga campaign in El Clasico against arch-rivals Real Madrid over the weekend, succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu.
While Xavi Hernandez's men were thoroughly outclassed against the defending champions, they should be confident of bouncing back at the first time of asking with a positive result against Unai Emery's fatigued Villarreal side.
The Yellow Submarine have been in good form lately and find themselves 7th in La Liga table. The visitors are coming off a 2-0 win over Osasuna on Monday and will travel to Camp Nou just a couple of days later to face Barcelona.
Villarreal have been solid defensively and difficult to break down in recent weeks, keeping four clean sheets in their last five, but they may find it difficult to contain a Barça team that has won three in a row at Camp Nou and are seeking for redemption after a string of poor performances of late.
FC Barcelona vs Villarreal confirmed line-ups
FC Barcelona XI (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, Alonso, Alba; Gavi, De Jong, Pedri; Torres, Lewandowski, Fati
Villarreal XI (4-3-3): Rulli; Femenía, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Pino, Parejo, Morlanes, Baena; Jackson, Danjuma
FC Barcelona vs Villarreal LIVE updates
FC Barcelona's and Villarreal's upcoming fixtures
After this fixture, FC Barcelona will host high-flying Athletic Club in another tricky La Liga encounter on the weekend before welcoming Champions League group C leaders Bayern Munich in a critical make-or-break tie on 27th October.
Villarreal will face Almeria at home on 23rd October before taking on Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Europa Conference League on 2nd October.
