Liverpool Vs Villarreal Betting Tips

Liverpool Vs Villarreal Details

1st leg date - Wednesday 27th April 2022

2nd leg date - Tuesday 3rd May 2022

1st leg venue - Anfield, Liverpool

2nd leg venue - El Madrigal, Villarreal

Favourite - Liverpool - 2/13 to progress

Overview

The betting odds suggest that Liverpool should win this fixture easily and head to Spain with a routine task at hand. However, Villarreal were overlooked in last year's Europa Leaguesemi-final and final and every stage of the Champions League this year and they’re just two games away from the final. That being said, Anfield is a fortress, sides that head to Anfield leave disappointed almost 99% of the time and Villarreal face their hardest test of the season if they wish to reach the final ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Liverpool Vs Villarreal Betting Tips

Mohamed Salah to score: Odds tbc

Very few players can boast a better goal per game ratio than Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian winger has scored eight goals in the Champions League this season despite limited minutes against Benfica in the last round. Villarreal’s compact format will be tough to break down, meaning that Liverpool’s wide players will be the difference makers, Salah is one of the best in the world at coming in off the wing and scoring, which is what we think he’s very likely to do during this tie.

Liverpool to win by 1 goal: 27/10

Liverpool should beat Villarreal at Anfield, that is a fact. However, Villarreal are finally starting to get credit for their strong performances when they’re the underdogs, they’ll be incredibly happy if they’re still in the tie when they head back to Spain and we think they’ll hold on to a 1 goal deficit knowing that they can replicate their first-leg performance against Bayern to take it to extra-time.

Both Teams to Score: ¾

The surprise factor going into this game is how vulnerable the Liverpool defence has looked in recent games, typically a strong unit, they tend to keep a lot of clean sheets. Their last six games have been Champions League quarter-finals, two games against potential finalists Manchester City and two rivalry matches against Manchester United and Everton, it goes without saying that Villarreal are a team who could definitely benefit from tired Liverpool legs.

Liverpool’s Champions League Journey

Group Stage

Group B was titled the proverbial ‘group of death’ for Liverpool when it was first drawn with many expecting some tough ties. However, Jurgen Klopp’s side blew away the opposition, winning all six group games and collecting more points than all three of their opponents combined. Milan and Madrid came close to taking points off the English side but were ultimately ground down to defeat. Mohamed Salah scored in all but one group game and was essential to Liverpool’s progression.

Round of 16

The Round of 16 saw Liverpool’s only defeat in this season’s competition as they suffered a late scare against Inter Milan. AC had taken Liverpool to the limit in both group games and Inter looked likely to take Liverpool one step further after Lautaro Martinez’s 62nd-minute goal at Anfield, unfortunately for the Italian’s, this was followed up by an Alexis Sanchez red card in the 63rd minute which halted their momentum. Liverpool qualified due to their late flurry of goals at the San Siro as Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah scored late on in the first leg.

Quarter-Final

Once again, Liverpool got the job done in the first leg away from home but then stumbled in the return match at home. Ibrahima Konate and Sadio Mane scored early goals in Lisbon to put Liverpool in firm control but it was a Luis Diaz goal in the 87th minute that killed the game for the Portuguese hosts. It looked like being another routine victory for Liverpool in the second leg where Konate scored before a Roberto Firmino brace. However, Nélson Veríssimo’s side have to be commended as they came back from 3-1 down to grab a deserved draw at Anfield.

Villarreal’s Champions League Journey

Group Stage

Even if Villarreal fails to make it to the final of this year’s competition, Unai Emery’s side have to be commended for their journey. After being favourites to drop down to the Europa League, the Spanish side finished above Atalanta and nearly topped the group ahead of Manchester United despite picking up just one point from their opening two games. It all came down to the final day of the group stage where Villarreal dominated Atalanta in the early stages but only narrowly won 3-2 in the end after a late comeback in Italy.

Round of 16

After an away win in Italy secured their route to the knockout stages, it perhaps shouldn’t have been as surprising to see the same happen in the Round of 16 when Villarreal faced off against Juventus. The Italians scored their only goal in the first minute of the 1st leg and from that moment on, Villarreal played significantly better than their opposition. However, they didn’t lead in the tie until the 78th minute of the second leg when Gerard Moreno scored a penalty, from that moment onward, the floodgates opened and Villarreal picked up their easiest victory of the tournament so far.

Quarter-Final

When Danjuma scored the first goal of the tie in the 8th minute, many would have been forgiven for thinking that it would be a typical Bayern Munich display, a slow start that ends in tragedy for their opponents. However, the defence of Villarreal was as stern as it has been all season, limiting the chances for Robert Lewandowski and his teammates. However, very few could have predicted their defence standing strong at the Allianz Arena, typically, it was Lewandowski who brought the tie level and it looked to be going to extra time before Samuel Chukwueze smashed home from the narrowest of angles to give Villarreal their place in the semi-finals.

Liverpool Vs Villarreal Head to Head

These two sides have faced off twice before in the 2015/16 Europa League campaign where Liverpool went on to lose in the final to Unai Emery’s Sevilla. However, Liverpool didn’t have it all their own way, Villarreal had the better of the first leg and took a lead back to Anfield after Denis Suarez left Adrian Lopez to pass the ball into an empty net. However, like Borussia Dortmund before them, Villarreal went to Anfield with a lead and left empty-handed after a Daniel Sturridge brace was followed up by an Adam Lallana goal for Liverpool to win 3-1 on aggregate, which coincidentally was the same score Liverpool lost to Emery’s Sevilla in the final.

Liverpool Vs Villarreal Final Prediction

There are a lot of issues Liverpool face going into this game, which makes the already tough task of defeating Villarreal even harder. However, Liverpool have overcome tougher tasks in the Champions League in recent years so they will undoubtedly relish the challenge ahead. Villarreal will likely win the battle in the middle of the park due to the numbers game but this should leave Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold open to make a difference and if there are two players Liverpool will want to control the game, it’s those two players. It won’t be easy but Liverpool should come out on top in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final and justify the superiority in their football betting odds.

Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal - 6/1