Posted by Stephen Kuzner

By Stephen Kuzner - WFD Fan Correspondent

After 10 Rounds of La Liga, there are some surprises. Espanyol sits in a Champions League spot at #4 and Real Sociedad briefly occupied a Europa League slot at #6 before Sevilla beat Valencia earlier yesterday. And, #15 Deportivo La Coruña have dug themselves out of the relegation zone, while Hercules saw themselves slide down to #17 after a few weeks flirting with the Europa League positions. The table remains fluid with Atlético Madrid, Mallorca, and Athletic Bilbao just shy of European football places. Some things haven't changed with Real Madrid and Barcelona sitting atop the table. However, Villarreal remain 2 points from the top having earned 23 out of 30 points. The table has been so topsy-turvy over the past couple weeks, it has me thinking strange things. If Villarreal were to beat Barcelona this week at the Camp Nou, they'd have 26 points after 11 games. That would be more than Chelsea in the EPL with 25 after 11 games.



Could Villarreal win the EPL?

Now this would be saying a lot between La Liga and the Barclays Premiership if La Liga's #3 team is as good as or better than the EPL's #1. Yet, beating Barcelona on the road, particularly with Barcelona's form as of late, would be a tall order for anyone. Is comparing Chelsea and Villarreal crazy or not that far-fetched?

There are some striking similarities between the clubs. Their records are analogous with Chelsea at 8-1-2 and Villarreal at 7-2-1. Chelsea have scored 27 and given-up 5. Villarreal have scored 21 (in one less game) and let-in 8. Giuseppe Rossi has 7 goals and so does Florent Malouda. Didier Drogba has scored 6 goals and so has Nilmar. Both have aging highly-capped stalwart center-backs in Carlos Marchena and John Terry. Both have cornerstone right-backs with their clubs and as well as countries with Ashley Cole and Joan Capdevila. Each have central-midfielders just-past their prime in Marcos Senna and Frank Lampard. Chelsea has more strength in the back with Alex and Branislav Ivanovic, but Villarreal has more creativity going forward with Santi Cazorla and Borja Valero.

Considering all this, the comparison doesn't look that far off-base, especially if you consider that Villarreal has more points in less games than Manchester United and Arsenal. Maybe Villarreal would have a real shot in the EPL? Still, if you were to use the gun-to-my-head test (cleverly used on Cougartown last week) to force me to make a decision as to whether Villarreal would win the EPL, the answer will be no. They don't have as much depth as Chelsea, ManU, Arsenal, or Manchester City. On a European night, it might be a different story, but at Bolton on a February Monday is something else.

Up to this point, Villarreal's consistency must be lauded and must be feared. They'd be pretty dangerous in the Champions League had they qualified. We'll see their true mettle this weekend against an in-form Barca squad that doesn't seem to have lost much focus with El Clásico right around the corner.




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