UCL Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Villarreal CF vs Liverpool Match Preview And Prediction 03/05/2022
Last week, Jurgen Klopp’s side produced a dominant performance at Anfield – racking up 74% possession and 19 shots. Meanwhile, the Spaniards failed to register a single shot on target.
Villarreal head into the second leg on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Alaves in La Liga. Despite seeing 68% of the ball on Saturday, they failed to prevent the loss.
Not only have Villarreal lost each of their last two games in all competitions, but they have also lost four of their previous nine.
As a result, Villarreal find themselves seventh in La Liga – nine points outside the top four and a whopping 29 points behind newly-crowned champions Real Madrid.
In the Champions League, however, Villarreal have already knocked out Juventus (4-1) and Bayern Munich (2-1) to reach this stage. You would be foolish to write them off altogether.
Liverpool come into the second leg on the back of a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League – leaving them one point behind first-place Manchester City.
Not only have Liverpool won each of their last five games across all competitions, but they have also avoided defeat in all of their previous 12. When you look at the bigger picture, Klopp’s side have lost just one of their past 28 encounters in all competitions.
In the Champions League, Liverpool won all six of their group games before dispatching Inter Milan (2-1) and Benfica (6-4) to book their place in the semi-finals.
Head-to-Head:
Villarreal and Liverpool have faced each other on three occasions over the years. In the 2015-16 season, Villarreal beat Liverpool 1-0 before the Reds won the reverse fixture 3-0.
That means Liverpool have won two of their three meetings with Villarreal, scoring a combined total of five goals while keeping two clean sheets.
Team News:
Alberto Moreno and Yeremi Pino are absent for Villarreal. Elsewhere, Arnaut Danjuma and Gerard Moreno are also injury doubts.
Liverpool's Roberto Firmino looks set to miss the second leg through injury. Divock Origi is also a doubt due to illness.
LIVERPOOL TO GO THROUGH TO THE FINALS
