Liverpool vs Villarreal Preview

Liverpool host Villarreal at Anfield on Tuesday night in the Champions League, with the Reds fifth in the standings on six points and Villarreal 14th on three. Liverpool have won both league phase games, 2-1 at home against Atlético Madrid and 6-3 away at LASK, while Villarreal beat Napoli 3-1 at home last week after a defeat in their opener. Both clubs played again at the weekend: Liverpool won 2-1 away at Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, and Villarreal drew 0-0 at home with Elche in La Liga. Liverpool have lost only once in their last five matches, a 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City on 11 October. Kick-off in Liverpool is at 8pm UK time.

Liverpool have won four of their last five, scoring 12 goals and conceding eight. Saturday’s 2-1 win away at Brentford in the Premier League is the latest of those. Before that, LASK were beaten 6-3 away in the Champions League on 14 October, the highest-scoring game of the run, and Manchester City won 3-0 at Liverpool on 11 October, the one defeat and the only game in which they failed to score. Further back, Bournemouth were beaten 1-0 away on 20 September and Tottenham 3-1 at home in the EFL Cup on 15 September. Three of the five were played away from home and Liverpool won all three. Their two home games in the sample at Anfield brought that win over Tottenham and the defeat to Manchester City.

Villarreal’s last five read W3 D1 L1, with nine goals scored and four conceded. They drew 0-0 at home with Elche in La Liga on Saturday, a clean sheet but the only game in the run in which they failed to score. Before that, Napoli were beaten 3-1 at home in the Champions League on 13 October, and Real Madrid won 1-0 against Villarreal in La Liga on 10 October, the only defeat of the five. Further back, Levante were beaten 3-1 at home on 20 September, and Malaga 3-1 away on 17 September. Villarreal conceded no more than one goal in any of the five games, and they won two and drew one of their three home matches in the sample, with one win and one defeat away from home.

Liverpool lead the four meetings listed, with three wins to Villarreal’s one and no draws, and the aggregate reads 8-3. The most recent was Liverpool’s 3-2 win away at Villarreal in the Champions League on 3 May 2022, and before that Liverpool won 2-0 at home on 27 April 2022. Liverpool also won 3-0 at home in the Europa League on 5 May 2016, so both of their Anfield meetings in this record ended in clean-sheet wins, by a combined 5-0. Villarreal’s only win in the record was a 1-0 home win on 28 April 2016.

Liverpool are fifth in the league phase standings on six points with a goal difference of +4, while Villarreal are 14th on three points with +1. A win would take Liverpool to nine points, though their position would depend on results elsewhere on matchday three.

In the UK, the match is live on Amazon Prime Video. Viewers in Spain can watch on Movistar Liga de Campeones 3, with Movistar+ streaming, while in the USA it’s on Paramount+ and ViX. In Ireland, Premier Sports ROI 1 carries the game.

Possible Lineups

Liverpool — Form

Villarreal — Form

Head to Head

Where to Watch

Table

Champions League Standings