Liverpool vs Villarreal: Frimpong and Szoboszlai Miss Out as Semi-Final Rivals Meet Again at Anfield
by Geoffrey Ejiga | by Cydias Aujard
Every Previous European Meeting Has Been a Semi-Final
The clubs have met four times in European competition, all in semi-finals, and Liverpool have won three of those four matches. Their first European tie came in the 2015-16 Europa League semi-final.
Villarreal won the first leg 1-0 at El Madrigal through Adrian Lopez's 90th-minute goal, but Liverpool turned the tie around at Anfield in the second leg.
A Bruno own goal in the seventh minute set the tone before Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana completed a 3-0 win that sent Liverpool through 3-1 on aggregate.
The clubs met again in the 2021-22 Champions League semi-final. Liverpool won the first leg 2-0 at Anfield through a Pervis Estupinan own goal and a Sadio Mane finish, both scored within two second-half minutes.
Villarreal fought back in the second leg, with Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin scoring to level the tie on aggregate. However, Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Mane quickly turned the match in Liverpool's favour. Liverpool won 3-2 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate.
Tuesday's match will be the first time the two sides have met outside of a knockout round. So ensure to see our expert’s Liverpool vs Villarreal match prediction.
Liverpool Perfect in Europe as Villarreal End Long Champions League Drought
Liverpool have a perfect record in this season's Champions League. They beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield on Matchday 1, coming from behind after Marcos Llorente had given the visitors the lead, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister scoring.
A 6-3 win at LASK on Matchday 2 followed, with Bradley Barcola scoring a hat-trick after a slow start to life at Anfield since his move from Paris Saint-Germain. Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Lewis Koumas also scored in Austria.
However, The Reds Premier League form has been less consistent:
- A 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City left them well behind the leaders,
- But they responded with a 2-1 win at Brentford last Saturday.
Iraola's side are now fifth in the Premier League with 12 points from seven matches.
Villarreal, on the other hand, beat Napoli 3-1 at home on Matchday 2 for their first Champions League win in eight matches. And the scorers were Georges Mikautadze, Santiago Mourino and Tani Oluwaseyi, all netting after Amir Rrahmani had given Napoli the lead.
In La Liga, Perez's side are 12th with nine points from nine matches. A 0-0 draw at home to Elche last Saturday was their latest result, though they beat Levante 3-1 and held Atletico Madrid to a 2-2 draw earlier in the season.
Iraola Faces His Former Assistant Without Key Pair
Frimpong is out for several weeks with a muscle injury. And Iraola has already said it would be difficult for the right-back to return before the November international break.
Szoboszlai is also ruled out after coming off at Brentford with a recurring hamstring problem. Meanwhile, Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain long-term absentees.
In good news, Isak, who missed the Manchester City and LASK matches with a thigh injury picked up on international duty, returned to score at Brentford and is expected to start.
Interestingly, the Swedish man has three career goals against Villarreal from his time at Real Sociedad.
But it’s bad news for Villarreal, as they travel without star man Nicolas Pepe because of an ongoing eye problem. Yet, The Yellow Submarine have Tajon Buchanan back in training after three matches out with a hamstring injury, while Juan Foyth and Santi Comesana have recovered from injuries and are available.
Tuesday’s Familiar Faces
One of the evening's side stories is the relationship between the two managers. Perez worked as Iraola's assistant at Rayo Vallecano before taking over as head coach at the Madrid club. And he led Rayo to the Conference League final last season before moving to Villarreal in June.
What’s more, Villarreal's goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi will also return to familiar surroundings at Anfield. The Hungarian spent five years at Liverpool between 2008 and 2013 without making a senior appearance before establishing himself at RB Leipzig. The 36-year-old skipper joined Villarreal this summer.
