Barcelona suffered their first La Liga defeat of the season in El Clasico last weekend, with Real Madrid recording a 3-1 victory at Bernabeu, and the reigning champions then moved six points clear at the summit by beating basement side Elche on Wednesday and Sevilla last night. Now, the Catalan outfit are currently second in the table, with a game less and with Atheltic Bilbao clash ahead of them.As a result, there was pressure on Barcelona heading into Thursday’s game with Villarreal, but a strong performance allowed the Catalan side to temporarily cut the gap, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice before Ansu Fati registered in a 3-0 success at Camp Nou. Tonight’s encounter with the Basque side will be a chance for Blaugrana to make it back-to-back wins in La Liga.Real Madrid – what a cauldron of talent! Ancelotti – what an expert! Sevilla fall after a blitzkriegOverall, Xavi’s side can be pleased with their start to the league season – they collected 25 points from 10 matches, scoring 24 goals in the process and conceding just four.Barca already have one eye on the Champions League where things are not running that smoothly. The team faces a huge battle to qualify for the knockout round of the European elite club competition, with four points from four matches leaving them third in Group C, three points behind second-placed Inter Milan.Tonight’s visitors have also made a strong start to the 2022-23 campaign – Athletic Bilbao won five, drew three and lost two of their 10 league games, which has left them in sixth position on 18 points, just two points behind fourth-placed Atletico on the same number of matches. However, the Basque outfit are winless in their last three games.Lewa’s quick brace ended Unai Emery’s hopes at Camp NouBefore the campaign breaks for the World Cup, Athletic will face Barcelona, Villarreal, Girona and Real Valladolid in their four games and it is no secret they expect to be in and around the top four by the time that the season comes to a halt – last season Ernesto Valverde’s side finished eighth in La Liga.Barcelona have been unbeatable for the Lions for three years now – Bilbao have not beaten the Blaugrana in the league since August 2019. On their last visit to Camp Nou back in February they suffered a 4-0 defeat, but it brings hope to the Basque that they have only conceded eight times in the league this term.Rosters are looking quite good on both sides. Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo and Memphis Depay will again be out of Xavi’s rotation. Luckily for the Catalans they did not suffer any fresh issues against Villarreal on Thursday but even so there is expected to be a couple of changes from that match – Eric Garcia and Ousmane Dembele could potentially return to play.Squad list against Bilbao#Barcelona pic.twitter.com/zuwzoxqI6a— Kick (@Kick0fficial) October 22, 2022 Lewandowski scored his 10th and 11th league goals of the season against Villarreal on Thursday, and the Poland international will again lead the Barcelona line.Frenkie de Jong should keep his spot in midfield alongside Gavi and Pedri while Sergio Busquets and Raphinha are waiting for recalls – Fati’s performance against the Yellow Submarine should see him keep out the Brazilian.Ernesto Valverde has no fresh fitness concerns heading into this clash and might make just the one change from the side that started against Getafe last time out, with Alex Berenguer potentially coming in for Mikel Vesga.Raul Garcia and Dani Garcia are also among those pushing for starts, but an attacking lineup should include Iker Muniain, Inaki Williams and Nico Williams. Ander Capa and Jon Morcillo remain on the sidelines due to earlier injuries.LA LIGA – ROUND 11SaturdayRayo Vallecano – Cadiz 5-1 (2-0)/Palazon 44, Garcia 45+1, Lejeune 63, 89, Camello 79, – Balliu 72 og/Valladolid – Sociedad 1-0 (1-0)/Leon 16/Valencia – Mallorca 1-2 (0-0)/Cavani 52 pen – Muriqi 66 pen, Lee Kang-in 83/Real Madrid – Sevilla 3-1 (1-0)/Modric 5, Vasquez 79, Valverde – Lamela 54/Sunday15:00: (1.79) Espanyol (3.70) Elche (5.40)17:15: (3.25) Betis (3.10) Atl.Madrid (2.55)19:30: (2.70) Girona (3.10) Osasuna (3.00)19:30: (1.42) Villareal (4.70) Almeria (8.50)22:00: (1.62) Barcelona (4.00) Ath.Bilbao (6.00)Monday22:00: (1.84) Celta (3.60) Getafe (5.20)***odds are subject to change***
