Key events
25 min: This is better from Liverpool, though: they pin Villarreal back for the best part of a couple of minutes. But not that much better: there’s no way through to the Villarreal box.
23 min: Nyoni wins the ball down the inside-left channel and slips infield for Gravenberch, who under pressure only just manages to get a shot away from the edge of the Villarreal D. The ball dribbles through to the keeper.
22 min: Van Dijk tries to make up for all that with a header from a corner. It’s blocked and cleared. The corner had been won by the livewire Ngumoha, who diddled his way down the right with speed and grace, reaching the byline and hitting a shot-cum-cross that Gulacsi, formerly of Anfield parish, nearly palmed into his own net.
21 min: Turns out Mikautadze was offside, but whether that should save Van Dijk’s blushes is debatable. It was another egregious unforced error from the Liverpool captain, who but for a yard here and there, would have been solely culpable for a 0-2 scoreline.
19 min: Mikautadze scampers down the right in acres of space. He’s got two team-mates in the Liverpool box, where there’s just one defender, but somehow bisects them both and the hosts get away with it. It would have been a tap-in had he found one of them. And that all started by Van Dijk slapping a simple pass straight at an opponent upfield, allowing Villarreal to launch the counter from which they should have scored.
17 min: Buchanan makes good down the right and fizzes a dangerous low ball through the Liverpool six-yard box. Had Mikautadze kept moving, Liverpool were in all sorts of trouble, but he’d checked his run.
16 min: Ngumoha turns on the jets down the right to sail past a couple of challenges with absurd ease. He enters the box but the cross doesn’t match the quality of the run. He’s been Liverpool’s sole bright light so far, though.
15 min: Mouriño slips the ball in from the right and finds Saliba, whose spin and low shot whistles inches wide of the bottom right. In fact it took a deflection, though nothing comes of the corner.
13 min: … and Anfield is extremely quiet as a result. Not one of those famous nights just yet.
11 min: That one Ngumoha run apart, Liverpool have shown nothing in attack. Villarreal have made themselves at home.
9 min: Another long pump down the middle that Van Dijk this time deals with. Villarreal are going to keep doing this, and on the early evidence, you can hardly blame them.
7 min: That early blow has stunned Anfield. Ngumoha gets everyone going again with a determined dribble down the right, shooting from a tight angle. Blocked. But much better. Liverpool finally turning up for work.
6 min: Van Dijk puts his arm up by way of apology, but that was an awful mistake. Such a simple header back to the keeper, but it was never getting there. Still, that’s your Guardian Goal Guarantee™!!!
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Villarreal (Mikautadze 4)
A howler from Van Dijk. Another long ball down the middle. It should be a simple header back to Allison, but he loops it weirdly high into the air, allowing Mikautadze to nip in and slot a shot across Alisson and into the bottom right! And despite the fact we’ve barely started, it had been coming!
3 min: Mikautadze buzzes around again, this time down the inside-left channel. He enters the box and tries to spin Jacquet, but the calm young France international isn’t having any of it, standing his ground before ushering the ball back to Alisson. A promising start by Villarreal nonetheless.
2 min: A simple long ball down the middle nearly opens up Liverpool. Van Dijk misjudges it, but Mikautadze doesn’t appear to know how to react, and spins around instead of driving towards the box. The striker eventually falls over and Liverpool clear their lines.
Villarreal kick off. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half.
Both sets of fans give their all to this evening’s pre-match dip into the Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook. Nunca caminarás solo! After which the teams take to the field of play. Liverpool in red, Villarreal in yellow, everyone looking real crisp and clean. A fine atmosphere on a rainy night on Merseyside. The close pals Andoni Iraola and Iñigo Pérez embrace before facing off. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Guardian Goal Guarantee™!!! Tonight’s MBM comes with a Guardian Goal Guarantee™!!! That’s because …
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None of Liverpool’s last 55 matches in Europe have finished goalless, a sequence stretching back to 2020-21
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None of Liverpool’s last 83 Champions League group stage/league phase fixtures have finished goalless, a sequence stretching back to 2006-07
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Villarreal have conceded in each of their last 13 European matches, a sequence that, like both of Liverpool’s above, is a club record
So that’s a Guardian Goal Guarantee™!!! Or your money back! †
†: LEGAL DISCLAIMER: You will not receive any money back.
Villarreal qualified for this season’s Champions League by finishing third in Spain last season. They didn’t start the new campaign very well, with two draws and three defeats, but they’ve since rediscovered a little mojo, a couple of wins bringing them some mid-table respectability: they’re currently 12th in La Liga. Meanwhile they’re one from two in Europe, having lost their opening Champions League fixture 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund, then beaten Napoli 3-1 at home.
Liverpool and Villarreal have been drawn together in Europe on two previous occasions. Both ties were semi-finals – of the 2016 Europa League and the 2022 Champions League – and though both were eventually won by Liverpool, Villarreal gave Jurgen Klopp’s side a fright on both occasions. Relive those rollercoaster rides now, in the new-fangled minute-by-minute style!
The rest of your required pre-match reading. Sid Lowe once again sets the scene, this time by telling the tale of the man who charted the Yellow Submarine’s rise from the depths of the regionalised Segunda B to Europa League glory.
Andoni Iraola speaks to Amazon Prime. “We have had two important wins … but we cannot stop … there is a very good team in front of us … it’s the fourth game in ten days … Florian [Wirtz] and Bradley [Barcola] have played every minute [of those games so far] … so we have to be sensible … Alex [Isak] was playing well but he is coming off the back of a massive injury so we have to be considerate … they are ready to go in the second half … [Lewis Koumas] was played well in the first half against Manchester City … Rio [Ngumoha] was really good in the second half against Brentford … the [Villarreal] full backs attack so [Rio] will have to do the job both ways … it is probably difficult to find someone who knows me better [than Iñigo Pérez] … I hope my players can make the difference.”
Liverpool make six changes to their starting XI following the 2-1 win at Brentford. Ryan Gravenberch returns after his Premier League suspension, while Cody Gakpo is back from injury. Kostas Tsimikas, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas and Rio Ngumoha also step up. Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Milos Kerkez drop to the bench, while Dominik Szoboszlai and Víctor Muñoz are injured.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Araujo, Jacquet, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Nyoni, Mac Allister, Ngumoha, Koumas, Gakpo.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Kerkez, Wirtz, Isak, Barcola, Laffey, Chambers, McConnell, Danns.
Villarreal: Gulacsi, Mourino, Navarro, Veiga, Cardona, Saliba, Gueye, Buchanan, Comesana, Moleiro, Mikautadze.
Subs: Junior, Costa, Freeman, Diatta, Gerard, Foyth, Akhomach, Macia, Oluwaseyi, Perez, El Jmili, Gaitan Diaz.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland).
Preamble
This is a match between Liverpool and Villarreal. One of the top teams in England versus one of the top teams in Spain. The Premier League versus La Liga. The Redmen versus the Yellow Submarine. And yet it’s really none of that. Some things go down to the micro level, as Sid Lowe explains with trademark eloquence in the first part (there will be more, and you will enjoy it) of your required pre-match reading …
Andoni Iraola versus his close compadre Iñigo Pérez kicks off at 8pm BST. Hasi da! It’s on!
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/oct/20/liverpool-v-villarreal-champions-league-live
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