UEFA Champions League first leg semi-final between Liverpool and Villarreal takes place at Anfield on Wednesday and we suggest a bet in the match.
A reminder that there is Outright Betting available and going into the semi-finals Liverpool and Manchester City were disputing favouritism at 5/4 with Real Madrid at 6/1 and Villarreal 18/1.
Click here for the Champions League outright markets which will be updated after the Manchester City v Real Madrid match.
Liverpool Form
Liverpool did the business in their 1st leg encounter against Benfica in the quarter-finals winning 3-1 on the road and they then played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at home to go through 6-4 on aggregate. They had beaten Inter 2-1 on aggregate in their last 16 clash winning 2-0 in Italy before losing 1-0 at Anfield. Liverpool had a 100% record home and away in the group stages and at home they scored 7 goals while conceding 2 in their 3 matches.
Liverpool remain in hot pursuit of Manchester City in the English Premier League and they overcame stern resistance from Everton on Sunday to win 2-0 at home, a result that may well have taken something out of them. Prior to that they had beaten Manchester United 4-0 at Anfield and they are undefeated in their last 10 matches in all competitions,
Villarreal Form
Villarreal caused a major upset when they beat Bayern Munich 2-1 on aggregate in their quarter-finals. They had stunned the Germans beating them 1-0 at home, a result that could be backed at over 4/1 and then held out for a 1-1 draw in Munich with the draw as big as 11/2 on the night.
They had a slightly easier time of things against Juventus in the last 16 winning 4-1 on aggregate, drawing 1-1 at home before winning 3-0 on the road. Villarreal won 2 and lost 1 of their 3 away matches in the group stages and they prepared for this fixture with a 2-0 home win over Valencia in the League, a game where they started short priced favourites at 3/10. That result leaves them 7th in the League with 7 points from the last 9 they have played for.
Head to Head
These sides last me in the Europa League in the 2015/2016 season where Liverpool won the home leg 3-0 and Villarreal won in Spain 1-0.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Liverpool 3/10
Draw 9/2
Villarreal 10/1
Suggested Bet: Both teams to score, YES, at 21/20
Liverpool should be too strong for Villarreal at home although Villarreal’s best performances in Europe have come on the road this season. Liverpool will be forced to press forward in search of the victory and Villarreal have shown an ability to hit teams on the break and have scored in all 5 of their away European matches this season.
If you enjoy some of the longer odds available on the game why not the 3-1 correct score line in favour of Liverpool priced at 10/1 and I also fancy Mo Salah to find the net first at 3/1 while for the more conservative punter he is 15/20 to score at any time during the game.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
