Spanish La Liga Saturday Match Previews: Nov. 20, 2010

Villarreal vs Valencia

Carlos Marchena is looking forward to facing his former club. The defender has told the press that he thinks that Villarreal have a real chance of beating the team with whom he spent nine successful years. His sale was purely a financial decision to help the debt-ridden club.

Villarreal have only lost twice this season and that run of form has seen them rise to third place, which is something of an achievement. This match will be against the team that most people expected to be in that position at this point. A win here could see Villarreal keep the pressure on the big two. They have only conceded one goal at home this season, which means that this match could very well go their way.

Valencia have a lot to prove, as their recent form has taken something of a nose dive from how they started the season. Before last weekend's win over Getafe, Valencia had only picked up one win from their last four matches, although if they can continue to play like that, this could be an interesting match.

Almeria vs Barcelona

A lot of the press regarding Barcelona has been around the upcoming match against Real Madrid on November 29th. This match should be an easy game for them in theory, although struggling Almeria could be something of a challenge.

There seems to be some speculation as to whether or not this match will go Barca's way. It seems daft at first but Almeria’s luck has to turn around at some point. Barcelona are likely to be saying goodbye to Dani Alves, seeing as the club have failed to reach an agreement and due to this his starting position is under question. Barcelona really can’t afford to come away from this match with anything other than a win seeing as how tight the top of the Spanish table is.

Almeria have only managed to score five goals at home this season and they’ve conceded six, a statistic which is rather embarrassing when it comes to home games. Any result that wasn’t a loss would be lucky and more than appreciated by the away side, as it would be brilliant to take any amount of points from Barcelona. Most teams would be happy with a draw and, who knows, it could be enough to help the side start a recovery.

Real Madrid vs Bilbao

Nine victories and two draws is a great start to anybody's campaign, although Real Madrid are only one point clear of champions Barcelona. The Bilbao match should be the sort that Real walk through without too much difficulty. Real are playing at home, where they have won every single one of their matches in the league this season.

Real Madrid aren’t only at the top of La Liga, but they’ve been successful in the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League. Historically they have only lost this fixture 13 times, and this will be the 80th time that they host the Basque outfit.

This match is not expected to go well for Bilbao. That is not to say that they aren’t confident; captain Pablo Orbaiz has said that he fancies their chances of coming away with at least one point if nothing else. Bilbao, who are currently positioned eighth in the Spanish league, aren’t exactly a poor side and could make an interesting game if they address their leaky defense. Away from home they have been conceding goals at an alarming rate and thus their away record has suffered. If they can get past that, then they have as good a chance as anyone.

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