Villarreal vs Liverpool is the upcoming match in the second leg of this year's UEFA Champions League as Liverpool travel to the home of Villareal with a 2-0 advantage from last week's first leg.
Villareal vs Liverpool: Match Preview:
Liverpool eased past Villarreal in the first leg by winning 2-0. We fancy the Reds to win again in Spain but expect the Yellow Submarine to at least give their fans a goal to celebrate. So, first, why do we expect Liverpool to win?
Well, Villarreal followed up their loss at Anfield with a La Liga defeat. Liverpool meanwhile beat an in form Newcastle I to take their winning run to five games. Then attention turns to why Villarreal will score.
The Estadio de la Ceramica is known to be a tough ground to visit with the home fans right on top of the pitch and, on top of that, they scored against Bayern in the last round whilst having 11 shots on goal in their home leg; the idea of them being lacklustre in attack simply isn't true.
Team News:
Villareal:
Villarreal's treatment room has started to fill up again at the worst time possible, with ex-Liverpool man Alberto Moreno and Yeremi Pino still absent, while Arnaut Danjuma was ruled out of the Alaves defeat at the last minute due to discomfort.
Francis Coquelin and Raul Albiol will hope to be fine for the second leg, but Gerard Moreno is still a major doubt due to his hamstring problem and may only be fit enough for a spot on the bench this week.
Pau Torres and Dani Parejo were taken off at half time in a tactical move from Emery at the weekend, and the Villarreal boss will revert to his strongest possible XI this week after ringing the changes for the domestic encounter.
Liverpool:
In contrast, Liverpool's only injury concern remains Brazilian attacker Roberto Firmino, whose foot injury is proving more difficult to overcome than initially anticipated, and he is at risk of missing the trip to Villarreal.
Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas both returned from illness to make the bench for the win over Newcastle, but cult hero Divock Origi was absent after picking up a bug, and Klopp was not afraid to make a multitude of changes at St James' Park.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Mohamed Salah and Thiago Alcantara are among those who will return to the first XI this week, and a 15th Champions League knockout goal for Sadio Mane would see him equal the record for the most strikes at this stage of the tournament for an English club - currently held by Frank Lampard.
Villareal vs Liverpool: Head to Head:
Liverpool have a good record against Villarreal and have won two out of the four matches played between the two sides. Villarreal have managed one victory against Liverpool and will need to level the scales on Tuesday.
The previous meeting between the two teams took place in the first leg last week and ended in a 2-0 victory for Liverpool. Villarreal struggled on the day and have a point to prove this week.
Recent performances in all competitions:
Villareal:
1-1 draw against Bayern Munich
2-1 win over Getafe
2-0 win over Valencia CF
2-0 loss against Liverpool
2-1 win over Alaves
Liverpool:
3-2 win over Manchester City
4-0 win over Manchester United
2-0 win over Everton
2-0 win over Villareal
1-0 win over Newcastle United
Villareal vs Liverpool: Predicted Line-ups:
Villarreal Predicted XI (4-3-3): Geronimo Rulli; Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Juan Foyth, Pervis Estupinan; Dani Parejo, Etienne Capuoe, Manu Trigueros; Samuel Chukwueze, Giovani Lo Celso, Arnaut Danjuma
Liverpool Predicted XI (4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson; Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson; Luis Diaz, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah