Villarreal vs Liverpool Preview

Villareal will welcome Liverpool to the Estadio de la Ceramica this Tuesday in the second leg of their 2021/22 UEFA Champions League semi-final tie.

The hosts are looking to become the first team since Liverpool in the 2018/19 season against Barcelona to overturn a 2+ goal deficit in a Champions League semi-final.

Despite proving too difficult to break down in the first leg at Anfield, Unai Emery’s men were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool, courtesy of an own goal by Pervis Estupinan and another strike by Sadio Mane.

After beating Juventus and Bayern Munich in the previous rounds, this tie against Jürgen Klopp’s rampant side seems to have proven too much for them.

To make matters worse, their preparation for this tie has been hampered by injuries to some key players while they were also beaten 2-1 last Saturday by Alaves in the league.

And so, the Yellow Submarines must improve on their recent performances. Villarreal have lost to English opposition at the semi-final stage of a European competition in three of their last four encounters and they are fancied by bookmakers to do so again this time.

However, they still possess an undefeated record in home UCL knockout matches (W2, D3) and so should not be taken for granted.

Meanwhile, Liverpool come into this tie on the back of a 1-0 win over Newcastle United. That win kept them firmly in pursuit of Manchester City for the Premier League title. It was also Liverpool’s fifth win in a row and also extended their unbeaten record to 12 games in all competitions.

The rampant Reds have won their last four games without conceding a goal, and excluding neutral grounds, they have scored 2+ goals in eight of their 11 away matches in 2022.

They have also won all five of their UCL away matches this season and will travel to Spain looking to finish the job they began at Anfield last week.