Villarreal and Liverpool go head to head at Estadio de la Cerámica in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Jurgen Klopp’s side leads 2-0 from the first leg thanks to two quick-fire goals at the start of the second half by Pervis Estupinan, who deflected a cross into his own net past a stranded Geronimo Rulli before Sadio Mane added to the scoresheet.
Mohamed Salah didn’t start at the weekend against Newcastle in the Premier League and was likely being rested to play here. The Egyptian is having a superb season so far for the Reds, scoring 30 times and creating 14 assists in 45 matches.
The former Fiorentina and Chelsea man has managed eight goals in 11 Champions League matches from a total of 26 shots and is priced at 15/8 to have two or more shots on target as the home side tries to chase their deficit.
Villarreal simply have to chase the match if they are to stand any chance of going through to what would be their first-ever Champions League final. This will likely play into Liverpool’s hands as they are electric on the counter-attack.
When Unai Emery’s men stunned Bayern Munich by beating them 1-0 in the home leg, they had three corners to their name, so one more here certainly isn’t unfeasible. Meanwhile, Liverpool managed 10 in the first leg to their opponent's two.
In the first leg there were three yellow cards, with two of them being dished out to Villarreal. There is a chance that two or more yellow cards for each side could happen here, especially with the stakes being so high.
Liverpool are expected to win the second leg due to the dominance that they showed at Anfield, as well as their current run of form.
Klopp’s men managed to have 19 shots to Villarreal’s one, whilst attainting 74% possession.
Mane was the only Liverpool player that managed to score in last week’s encounter, alike his counterpart Salah, the Senegalese forward is having a solid season, scoring 20 times in 45 games from a total of 76 shots.
The final tip on this list sees Samuel Chukwueze, Luis Diaz and Thiago Alcantara need to have six or more shots on target.
Nigerian winger Chukwueze has scored five goals and created three assists in 31 appearances this campaign, including the goal that sealed the Yellow Submarines’ place in the semi-finals when they drew 1-1 away at Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, Diaz has been sensational for Liverpool since his arrival from FC Porto in January, as the Colombian forward has scored four and created three assists from 34 shots in 20 appearances. The 25-year-old has 29 goal contributions to his name throughout the season as a whole for both Liverpool and Porto.
Midfield general Thiago Alcantara nearly scored a sensational goal against Tuesday’s opponents at Anfield, but, the Spaniard’s thunderous long-range strike clipped the outside of Rulli’s right-hand post. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich midfielder usually retains possession for his side, but, when a chance to shoot comes his way he often takes it.
Thiago has netted once in the Champions League this season, doing so with a stunning long-range strike against Porto at Anfield in the group stages.
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