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da pixbet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Barcelona will welcome Villarreal to Camp Nou on Tuesday evening and keeping the Yellow Submarine’s prolific attack at bay will play a huge role in their chances of picking up all three points.
Precisely for that reason, one of their defenders will have to bring his A-game to the table.
On the chalkboard
The Catalan giants have suffered two defeats and a draw in the opening five games, including a shock 2-0 loss to Granada at the weekend.
Of course, these are still very much the early days and big teams do tend to bounce back in the latter stages of the campaign but Barca have already reached a point where every victory will be crucial.
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With that in mind, Tuesday’s game against Villarreal will be a must-win encounter.
But seeing how they’ve struggled defensively this season, having conceded nine goals in five games, the key battle just might be fought in their backline.
Good defence key
Of course, when you have the likes of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez in the squad, it’s difficult not to talk about them potentially banging in the goals but keeping a good defensive record will be just as important. For that reason, Clement Lenglet could play a big role.
The 24-year-old French defender is likely to come face to face with Gerard Moreno, Villarreal’s prolific forward who has scored five goals in as many games in La Liga this season. Stopping him from doing his thing should be top of the club’s priorities.
Lenglet, however, is no slouch either. He has tallied 2.2 tackles, 0.4 interceptions and 2.8 clearances per game in La Liga this season. Compare this to Moreno’s three shots and 2.8 key passes per game.
Lenglet is also not easy to beat. So far in La Liga, he has only been dribbled past 0.2 times per game while Moreno, on the other hand, has 1.2 dribbles per game. That seems to be an area where Lenglet definitely can get the better of him, especially when adding tackles into the equation.
Both players have participated in every fixture in the competition so far for their respective clubs and are look set to continue their streak – the winner of this battle, then, just might decide the whole game.