Preview: Liverpool vs. Villarreal · prediction, team news, line-ups
Liverpool host Villarreal at Anfield on Tuesday, 20 October (13:00 Mexico City time, 8pm BST) in matchday three of the Champions League league phase.
The Reds are fifth with six points. The Yellow Submarine are 14th in the 36-team table on three.
Match preview
Liverpool have won both of their league-phase games and have six points with a goal difference of plus four. They opened with a 2-1 win at Anfield before winning 6-3 away at LASK Linz.
Andoni Iraola's side beat Brentford 2-1 in the Premier League three days after that win in Austria. Before that they lost 3-0 at home to Manchester City, having won 1-0 at Bournemouth and 3-1 against Tottenham in the League Cup.
The defence is the concern. Liverpool have conceded in four of their last five matches and kept a clean sheet only at Bournemouth. They shipped three against LASK and three against City.
The attack has covered for it. Liverpool scored 12 goals across those five games, and Bradley Barcola leads the scoring charts with three.
Villarreal, managed by Inigo Perez, are 14th with three points and a goal difference of plus one. They beat Napoli 3-1 at home and lost 3-2 in their other league-phase outing.
That win ended a run of seven straight Champions League defeats. It was their first victory in 13 games in the competition proper, a spell that included two draws and 10 defeats.
In La Liga they drew 0-0 with Elche on Saturday, their first clean sheet since February. Before that they lost 1-0 at Real Madrid, having beaten Levante 3-1 and won 3-1 at Malaga.
The head-to-head favours Liverpool, who have won three of the four meetings. Villarreal won 1-0 in the first leg of the 2016 Europa League semi-final, but the Reds won 3-0 at Anfield. In the 2022 Champions League semi-final, Liverpool won 2-0 at home and 3-2 away.
Villarreal have never beaten an English side in the Champions League proper. They have six draws, 10 defeats and have lost the last six. Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the 2022 first leg at Anfield, is the referee.
Liverpool are chasing nine points from nine in Europe. Villarreal need a result to keep climbing a tightly packed table.
Liverpool · recent results
- WBrentford 1-2 Liverpool
- WLask Linz 3-6 Liverpool
- LLiverpool 0-3 Manchester City
- WBournemouth 0-1 Liverpool
- WLiverpool 3-1 Tottenham
Villarreal · recent results
- DVillarreal 0-0 Elche
- WVillarreal 3-1 Napoli
- LReal Madrid 1-0 Villarreal
- WVillarreal 3-1 Levante
- WMalaga 1-3 Villarreal
Key stats
Trends · last 5 matches
Team news
Liverpool will be without Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai, who both went off injured in the win at Brentford. Iraola said Frimpong is unlikely to return before the November international break. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain sidelined, while Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are not in the league-phase squad.
Ryan Gravenberch returns from suspension and is expected to partner Alexis Mac Allister in midfield. Spanish outlets predict Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk and Kerkez; Victor Munoz, Wirtz, Barcola and Isak.
For Villarreal, Nicolas Pepe has missed three games with an eye problem. Tajon Buchanan returned to training on Monday after missing three matches with a hamstring injury, but his availability is unconfirmed. Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze are expected to lead the line, with former Liverpool goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi in goal.
Liverpool arrive with two European wins and Anfield behind them, but without Szoboszlai and Frimpong and with a defence that has leaked goals almost every week. Villarreal are fresh from a win and have scored in both Champions League outings. We expect the Reds to show their quality in a tight scoreline, although the Submarine will find a goal.
Match odds
+18