Europa League preview and odds: Villarreal vs Liverpool

Published on: 25/04/2016

Europa League preview and odds: Villarreal vs Liverpool

April 28, 2016 21:05pm - Camp El Madrigal

Europa League - Semi-final, second leg

Villarreal and Liverpool will go head-to-head in a competitive match for the first ever time when they meet at El Madrigal in the first leg of 2016 Europa League semi-finals.

Home form a plus for Spaniards

Since losing their opening group stage game 2-1 away to Rapid Wien, Villarreal have remained unbeaten in this competition - a run that now stretches back 11 games.

On home soil, they have a 100% record in this season`s tournament, having won all six of their games while conceding just a single goal in the process. In the league, their form has dipped somewhat in recent weeks, with two defeats and a draw in their last three games.

Striker Cédric Bakambu is currently second in the Europa League scoring charts with a total of nine - just one behind Aritz Aduriz of Athletic Club, who exited the tournament with 10 goals to his name.

Reds looking for positive result to take back to Anfield

In the quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool proved once again that magical things can happen on the Anfield turf. On Thursday night, they will be looking for something positive to take back to England for the second leg.

Jurgen Klopp`s men remain unbeaten in this year`s competition, having won five and drawn seven. In addition, they come into this game on the back of some good form having lost just one of their last 12 games in all competitions.

The main problem for the Reds could be the lack of availability of certain key players for the trip to Spain..

Team news

Marcelino will be without the injured group of Nahuel Leiva, Leo Baptistao, Jaume Costa and Mateo Musacchio.

Meanwhile, the visitors will have to cope without the services of Divock Origi, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, Christian Benteke, Jordan Rossiter, Danny Ings and Joe Gomez, who are all injured, as well as Mamadou Sakho who has been excluded pending a doping investigation.

Recent form (All competitions)

Villarreal: DLLWW

Liverpool: DWWWW

Betting odds and tips

Villarreal are strong at home, having lost just three of their last 28 in all competitions. In addition, they have only conceded five goals in their last 16 games at El Madrigal.

All of Liverpool`s away games in this season`s tournament have finished with Under 2.5 Goals.

You can back Under 2.5 Goals at 5/4 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 25/04/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (25/04/2016 17:33:01) but are subject to change.