It's a closed Mata

Guillem Balague says Juan Mata isn't Liverpool-bound as he previews the live La Liga games.

Guillem looks at the latest round of La Liga

Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague looks at this week's Sky Live La Liga games. If you've got a question for Guillem, send it to skysportsclub@bskyb.com.
Zaragoza v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Racing
Valencia v Mallorca
Sevilla v Athletic Bilbao (second half)
Villareal v Atletico Madrid

Zaragoza v Barcelona
5pm, Sat, Sky Sports HD4

There is an on-going crisis at Zaragoza but José Aurelio Gay has not been sacked because they are playing Barcelona next and no-one expects them to pick up any points from the game. That means he will be given one last chance to see if he can lift the team but there seems to be a general lack of confidence in him. Barcelona, on the other hand, are a team of up and downs at the moment. When they need to, as they did against Valencia, they can change things tactically; Pep Guardiola went from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-1-1 defensive formation with Messi in the hole and Villa up front. The change worked wonders because Valencia couldn't maintain their high tempo. Barcelona have also been guilty, however, of raising their game against smaller sides. I'm not saying Barcelona will slip up in this one but over the course of the season Real Madrid may take advantage of that.

Real Madrid v Racing
7pm, Sat, Sky Sports HD4

Real's players seem to be growing at the same pace and that's helping the side; Di Maria is the perfect example of that, as are Ozil and Xabi Alonso. Alonso is now used in certain games as the loan central midfield player, a role that he loves. He's able to do that with Benzema and Di Maria in front of him. Di Maria does need to work harder, particularly when it comes to recovering the ball, but he is definitely improving and is player with lots of quality who is more than capable of scoring goals, which is a real bonus for a midfielder. Ozil, who can slot into that diamond shape along with Ronaldo and Higuain, is also looking really good with - as he says - both the Turkish mentality of talent and the German mentality of hard work.

Valencia v Mallorca
9pm, Sat, Sky Sports HD4

I love Unai Emery's philosophy. We are going to delve into that in a lot more detail in the next Revista and hear about the chat that he gives to players, which will tell you all you need to know about his style of management and personality. He is all about winning. After the Manchester United defeat he told his players 'I don't care that you lost because we went for the win and we can beat these sides'. Now his players have to put his words into action because he has failed against the big teams since he's been at the club - that's the next step for him. I'm also a big fan of what Michael Laudrup is doing at Mallorca because he makes them play even though the club has the threat of relegation hanging over it. They have some quality players in their ranks and are being forced to use young kids from the lower sides too. Even so, they are still going out to play good football and that's why I think they will be safe. The players trust the manager and they will give everything for him. That won't be enough in this match, though.

Sevilla v Athletic Bilbao (second half)
7pm, Sun, Sky Sports HD1

We've seen the challenges that face Gregorio Manzano - a team that doesn't create a lot from midfield. Luis Fabiano is completely out of it. He's being used behind a striker but that's not really his best position - he just cares about scoring but he's out of form. I don't think we'll see the best of Luis Fabiano for a while. On the other hand, though keep an eye on Fernando Llorente because these could be his last few games for Athletic Bilbao. In the summer he could well move to Barcelona. Nothing is negotiated or agreed as yet but I think it's a transfer that suits both parties.

Villareal v Atletico Madrid
8pm, Sun, Sky Sports HD1

Atletico Madrid started very strongly; they seem to have life without Aguero and Forlan - Diego Costa has proved himself a good substitute in their absence. The team will obviously improve once those two are fit to start a game (Forlan came on as a substitute in last week's win). This match will be a challenge for both sides because Villareal also started the season very strongly despite showing one or two weaknesses at the back; that is off-set by a very powerful attack, so we can look forward to two great games on Sunday!

Guillem answers your questions...

Got a question for Guillem? Then send it in here or use the feedback form below, and then look out for his answer next week. MATA OF FACT
Hi Guillem, great read as always. There have been quite a few reports in the media saying that Liverpool want Juan Mata of Valencia, is there any truth in this story that he would want to come to Liverpool and is he going to sign a new deal with Valencia? Faisal Rashid (Liverpool fan) GUILLEM SAYS: Mata is about to renew his contract with Valencia. I think that if the club goes through a bad period - by which I mean one or two defeats - then they may announce the agreement which is basically all but done. So Mata will stay at Valencia for a while yet. He feels he is one of the most important players but that he can also still develop and he's got the perfect environment at Valencia to do just that. It will be interesting to find out how much money Liverpool have put aside for new signings. In my eyes, their owners don't appear to have a huge amount of money and some of the finances for the squad will have to come from selling other players. That suggests to me that they are not in a position to sign someone of Mata's stature. WAITING GAME
Hi Guillem, great column as always. I watched the European Under 19 Tournament in the summer and thought that Dani Pacheco was the star of it. However, he has been unable to great into the Liverpool first team yet, but Sergio Canales has made a few starts for Real Madrid, despite in my opinion being an inferior player. Do you think Dani Pacheco has what it takes to make the grade in the Premiership? Bootman (Liverpool fan) GUILLEM SAYS: The problem is that in times of crisis most managers tend not to use young players - that is almost an unwritten law in football because they feel that the more experienced players are the ones who will be able to handle the pressure, even if it doesn't always seem so on the pitch! So it appears this is the wrong time for Pacheco, unfortunately. Pacheco had the opportunity to go on loan to up to four clubs, including Mallorca and Espanyol, but decided to stay so I wonder if he felt this was his year but circumstances mean he may have to wait another season or move on. Let's see if the managerial situation stabilises - either with Roy Hodgson staying or going - and then maybe Liverpool will take advantage of his talent. EMERGING PROBLEMS
Hi Guillem. I was wondering do you know of any Real Madrid youth team players to watch out for in the future? Its been nearly 10/11 years now since Iker Casillas cemented a first team place and none have come close to playing an instrumental role in a whole, entire season. I know Enzo Zidane is only 15 so we have to wait see his potential but I was thinking of players around the 17/18/19 age group. Thanks. P.S. Best football pundit on Sky Sports! Malcolm McCabe, Dublin, Ireland GUILLEM SAYS: Thanks very much for your kind words, Malcolm. Enzo Zidane's name has been mentioned recently by the press but I haven't seen anything outstanding in him. I know people are also talking about Pablo Sarabia, who caught Benfica's eye, striker Alvaro Morata and the young centre-back David Mateos, who has been used on the bench, but I don't think there is anything outstanding in Real's emerging ranks at present. Morata has been compared to Morientes but he's got a long way to go to get anywhere close to that level. There is a left-back called Nacho Fernandez who is worth watching and I've also seen Juan Carlos make his debut; he is very fast and works very hard, which Mourinho likes. But I'm not sure that any of the above are extraordinary players; they are players who may appear for a bit in the first-team and then disappear to the first or second division, or go abroad. Many of them have had offers to go to England. There is also talk about Samu; he is another hard-worker who lacks physical presence but is aggressive with defenders and is a good finisher. I don't see him as a regular first teamer though. That's one of Real Madrid's current failings - they are not bringing the young players through. Instead, Mourinho is happy to use the same XI and tweak things in each game and why not? It's working for him. That makes me think that this is not the year for young players.