Villarreal v Barcelona: LaLiga lineups, team news, confirmed teams

Barcelona are aiming to finish 2025 with a four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

The reigning champions visit third-placed Villarreal on Sunday, with their opponents seven points behind Madrid.

The Yellow Submarine, who are the only side apart from the top two to have only lost two league games this season, have three matches in hand on Los Blancos and two on Barca.

101GreatGoals.com has the team news and line-ups from Villarreal vs Barcelona in La Liga. You can also follow live text updates and stats from the match here.

🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/3S1zJdDtjk

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) December 21, 2025

Villarreal lineup vs Barcelona

Centre-back Rafa Marin, left-back Sergi Cardona, midfielder Santi Comesana, winger Alberto Moleiro and forward Ayoze Perez keep their places from Villarreal’s 2-1 Copa del Rey defeat at second-tier Racing on Wednesday.

Head coach Marcelino is dealing with a lengthy injury list, with Willy Kambwala, Logan Costa, Pau Cabanes, Ramon Terrats, Gerard Moreno and several others unavailable. Pape Gueye and Ilias Akhomach are at the 202 Africa Cup of Nations.

Villarreal starting XI: Luiz Junior, Pau Navarro, Rafa Marin, Renato Veiga, Sergi Cardona, Tajon Buchanan, Santi Comesana, Dani Parejo, Alberto Moleiro, Nicolas Pepe, Ayoze Perez

Villarreal substitutes: Arnau Tenas, Adria Alti, Manor Solomon, Gerard Moreno, Georges Mikautadze, Tani Oluwaseyi, Jean Valou, Carlos Macia, Alassane Diatta

Barcelona lineup vs Villarreal

Barcelona make six changes from their 2-0 win at Guadalajara in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, bringing in goalkeeper Joan Garcia, defenders Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsi, Gerard Martin and Alejandro Balde alongside forwards Raphinha and Ferran Torres.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Casado, Andreas Christensen, Jofre Torrents, Roony Bardghji, Marc Bernal and Marcus Rashford make way.

Pedri is out with a calf issue, potentially making Frenkie de Jong and Eric Garcia Barca’s midfield pairing Midfielders Gavi and Dani Olmo and defender Ronald Araujo are also injured.

Barcelona starting XI: Joan Garcia, Kounde, Cubarsi, Gerard Martin, Balde, Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong, Fermín Lopez, Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal

Barca substitutes: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Robert Lewandowski, Marcus Rashford, Marc Casado, Marc Bernal, Wojciech Szczesny, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji, Tomas Marques

How to watch Villarreal vs Barcelona: Live stream, TV channel

Kick-off on Sunday is at 15:15 GMT (10:15 ET / 07:15 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Premier Sports 1 and streaming available on a vast range of devices via the Premier Sports app.

A Premier Sports subscription costs £120 a year, £11.99 per month on a 12-month contract or £16.99 per month with 30 days’ cancellation notice required.

Villarreal vs Barcelona stats

• Villarreal have won six consecutive La Liga matches
• They have lost their last two games away to second-tier Racing in the Copa del Rey and at home to Copenhagen in the Champions League
• Marcelino’s team have conceded three fewer goals than any other side in this season’s Liga (13)
• Two of their last three league meetings with Barca have ended victoriously, but they have not won the fixture at home since October 2007
• Barcelona have won seven straight league games
• They have scored 49 goals in 17 league matches in 2025/26