Europa League preview and odds: Liverpool vs Villarreal

Published on: 01/05/2016

Europa League preview and odds: Liverpool vs Villarreal

May 05, 2016 21:05pm - Anfield

Europa League

Liverpool will be hoping for another big European night at Anfield as they attempt to overhaul a one -goal deficit to fourth-ranked La Liga side Villarreal.

Reds confident at home

Liverpool dominated much of the first leg of this Europa League semi-final tie but were unable to find a way past the tenacious Villarreal rear guard. To make matters worse, they conceded a goal in the dying seconds to hand the advantage to their opponents.

The Reds will now be looking for yet another big performance in front of their home crowd as they line up with several key players missing. The defeat in Spain was the first of the tournament for Klopps men, who also fell 3-1 at Swansea in this weekend`s Premier League game. The German Coach made eight changes for the game in Wales, with several players clearly being rested for Thursday night`s crucial game.

The Merseyside team come in this game on the back of a 12-game unbeaten run at home in all competitions.

Yellow Submarine take slender lead to home of the Beatles

The team named after a Beatles song will travel to the home of the Fab Four on Thursday as they look to maintain an advantage over the three-time former winners of this competition.

Having kept a clean sheet at El Madrigal, the Spanish side are in a position where if they score a goal their opponents would need to score three goals to win. With this in mind, Marcelino`s men may be happy to bide their time and strike on the counter-attack in this game.

Villarreal are unbeaten in their last four Europa League away games this term, having won two and drawn two, but were beaten in Vienna in their opening fixture.

Team news

Liverpool have been struck by another injury crisis with Divock Origi, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, Jordan Rossiter, Danny Ings and Joe Gomez all injured, while Mamadou Sakho is suspended.

Meanwhile, Nahuel Leiva and Leo Baptistao are both unavailable for the visitors.

Recent form (All competitions)

Liverpool: LDWWW

Villarreal: WDLLW

Betting odds and tips

Liverpool should have what it takes to win on the night, but will it be enough to see them through? As they showed against Borussia Dortmund, even an away goal from Villarreal won`t stop the team in red or the Anfield crowd from believing.

You can back the home side to progress at 4/6 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 01/05/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (01/05/2016 17:31:32) but are subject to change.