Liverpool vs Villarreal LIVE! Champions League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction today
Liverpool take the next step on their path to a potential quadruple as they host Villarreal in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
The Reds have lost just one of their last 26 matches in all competitions, against Inter Milan at Anfield in a result that saw them progress in Europe anyway.
Jurgen Klopp’s side come into tonight’s clash full of confidence, having got the better of big rivals Manchester United and Everton in their last two matches and are big favourites to get the better of the La Liga side.
But Villarreal are no easy touch, as Juventus and Bayern Munich have already found out in the previous knockout rounds. Unai Emery has a sensational Europa League record and he is bringing that to the Champions League now as Villarreal have reached the last four in the competition for the first time in 16 years.
READ MOREIt will have to be a special match to live up to last night’s seven-goal thriller in the first leg of Manchester City and Real Madrid’s semi-final tie.
With Malik Ouzia at Anfield and kick-off at 8pm BST, follow all the action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog below...
You’ll Never Walk Alone... done!
As powerful as ever. Players are in the tunnel ready to come out. Villarreal fans have turned out in real force... the entire city’s population is 50,000!
Villarreal have done one of the shortest warm-ups you will ever see from a professional football side. They came out 25 minutes before kick-off and with ten to go they’re back in the dressing room.
Kick-off fast approaching.
Perfect evening at Anfield, and it will be an incredible atmosphere as ever. Huge, huge test for Villarreal against probably the most in-form team in the world right now.
“They have a very clear identity at Anfield.
“It’s Liverpool, I think it’s the best Liverpool that I have known, but I take that as motivation to play the perfect game and to beat Liverpool at their best.
“Liverpool know that we are here because we have been able to compete. For us, that means the challenge is greater.
“We’re playing the favourites but we want to be us and to play on the front foot. The journey does not have to end, we want to be in charge, to create chances.
“In normal conditions they are superior to us, but we have our own ideas, individually and as a team, to allow us to compete.”
It could well be an historic end to the season for Liverpool as they continue to fight on all fronts.
The Carabao Cup is already in the bag, with a return to Wembley secured for next month when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
That leaves the Premier League, where they trail Manchester City by one point with five matches remaining, and the Champions League.
Could they? Well it’s nearly May and it’s still very much on!
This match has got a lot to live up to after last night’s excitement.
In the first leg of the other Champions League semi-final, Man City beat Real Madrid 4-3 at the Etihad. Stunning goals, missed chances, a perfect panenka...
More of the same please!
Liverpool beat Villarreal 3-0 when the Spanish side came to Anfield in the Europa League semi-finals back in 2016.
That was Jurgen Klopp’s first season in charge, before he helped the Reds get back into the Champions League.
They went through to the final, where they lost to a Sevilla side managed by.... Unai Emery!