Barcelona will be missing Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Busquets for Sunday's La Liga clash with Villarreal.

Dembele remains on the sidelines with the hamstring injury that he picked up against Girona at the end of last month, while Busquets was forced off in the early stages of the 3-0 win over Sevilla on February 5 due to an ankle sprain.

Busquets's absence is likely to see Gavi drop into a deeper position alongside Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, which would then open up a starting role in the final third of the field.

Raphinha was on the scoresheet against Sevilla last time out and should again play off the right, while Robert Lewandowski is a certainty, with the forward scoring 23 times during an impressive first season at the club.

Barcelona boss Xavi is not blessed with a number of options when it comes to the left-sided attacking spot, with Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati set to battle it out, and the start is likely to go to the latter.

The Catalan outfit do have a number of defensive players, though, with Marcos Alonso, Alejandro Balde, Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia all starting on the bench against Sevilla.

Xavi is unlikely to make any alterations to his back four for this contest, so Jordi Alba should retain his spot on the left, with Jules Kounde operating as the right-back.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Alba; Pedri, De Jong, Gavi; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Fati

Written by
Matt Law