After sealing a dramatic comeback win over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Liverpool face another test in the semi-finals when they take on Villarreal on Thursday night.
Villarreal
The Yellow Submarine booked their place in the semi-finals with a convincing 6-3 aggregate win over Sparta Prague, but they face a different challenge against Liverpool.
Villarreal will be taking on the new favourites for the crown after Klopp’s men knocked out Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals in a dramatic comeback triumph.
The Spanish outfit may be seen as slight underdogs, but they are unbeaten in their last 11 European fixtures and have won all of their six home games in the competition.
Current form (in all competition) – WWWLLD
Liverpool
It was one of the most dramatic nights that the Europa League has ever seen when dortmound logged horns with liverpool in the quaters finals, but the Reds need to continue that momentum when they take on Villarreal in the semi-finals.
They are now the favourites to win the tournament, and they have the results to back them up as the Merseyside outfit are the only club to go unbeaten from the start of the group stage to matchday 12 after scooping five wins and seven draws.
For ten of those matches Klopp has been in charge, but the former Dortmund boss is yet to win a European fixture in Spain having drawn three and lost two.
Current form (in all competition) -DWWWWD
Team News
Christian Benteke has been included in Liverpool’s traveling squad to Spain after spending one month on the sidelines with a knee injury, suggesting that he could make an appearance in tomorrow’s match.
Sturridge started on the bench for both games against Dortmund in the quarter-finals as Klopp preferred Divock Origi to lead the line.
However, the England international, who has scored in his last three games, is expected to be in the first XI on Thursday due to Origi being absent with an ankle injury.
Sakho will definitely not be in the squad as Liverpool have opted against selecting the defender for upcoming games while UEFA’s investigation into an alleged anti-doping violation continues.
This leaves the door open for Kolo Toure or Martin Skrtel to partner Dejan Lovren at the back, but Klopp chose the Ivorian to replace Sakho against Newcastle.
Head To Head
Villarreal and Liverpool have never met before in a European competition, but they have faced one another in a club friendly in 2008, which ended in a goalless draw in Spain.
The Yellow Submarine have not had the best results against English opposition in recent years as they have not won any of their last 10 matches against Premier League clubs.
In total, Villarreal have won three, drawn six and lost four of their 12 UEFA games against English teams, while Liverpool’s 32 matches against Spanish teams have ended in 13 wins, 10 draws and nine defeats
As for Villarreal, Marcelino could be missing three players from his squad on Thursday. One definite absentee is Leo Baptistao, who is carrying an injury.
UEFA Europa League SF 1 : Villarreal Vs Liverpool
No comments:
Post a Comment