Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal: result and report

Report

Liverpool got the home win they were expected to get, but only after coming back from two goals down. They were the better side for most of the match, though conceding three times leaves a less comfortable signal.

Villarreal made a fast start. Georges Mikautadze scored after four minutes, and Sergi Cardona made it 2-0 on 29 minutes from Nathan Saliba's pass.

Liverpool still had time before the break, and they used it. Alexis Mac Allister pulled a goal back on 36 minutes from Konstantinos Tsimikas's assist. Then Ronald Araujo equalised in added time at the end of the first half, set up by Rio Ngumoha.

The second half went Liverpool's way. Mac Allister scored again on 65 minutes, with Ngumoha providing the assist again. Florian Wirtz made it 4-2 three minutes later from Cody Gakpo's pass. Tani Oluwaseyi's goal on 87 minutes, from Ayoze Pérez's pass, made the finish tense but did not change the result.

Liverpool's chances against Villarreal's finishing

The comeback was not a fluke, because Liverpool created more throughout. They finished with 2.33 xG to Villarreal's 1.42 and took 15 shots to seven. They also made 19 key passes to Villarreal's 10. They spent far more of the match pressing forward too, with 62 dangerous attacks to 37.

Mac Allister was the standout, with two goals and the player-of-the-match award. Ngumoha's two assists meant he had a hand in two of the four goals, while Wirtz and Gakpo combined for the goal that settled it.

There is a counter-signal, though. Villarreal scored three times from just seven shots, and five of those shots were on target. The big-chance count also finished level at three each. So while Liverpool were the stronger attacking side, their defending let Villarreal score more than their chances suggested they would.