Liverpool vs 20.10.26 19:004 – 3Full Time
Villarreal — UEFA Champions League: stats, lineups & analysis
Match report
Liverpool come from two down to beat Villarreal in seven-goal thriller
Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield in a Champions League league-stage matchday 3 fixture, recovering from two goals down to win a seven-goal contest. Villarreal made the sharper start, Georges Mikautadze scoring in the fourth minute, and Sergi Cardona doubled the lead in the 29th minute from a Nathan Saliba assist.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Liverpool were back in the game by half-time. Alexis Mac Allister pulled one back in the 36th minute from a Kostas Tsimikas assist, and Ronald Araújo levelled at 2-2 in the 45+2 minute, again from an assist by Rio Ngumoha. The home side then took control after the restart, Mac Allister putting them in front in the 65th minute and Florian Wirtz adding a fourth in the 68th, set up by Cody Gakpo.
Villarreal refused to fade and Tani Oluwaseyi reduced the deficit to 4-3 in the 87th minute from an Ayoze Pérez assist, but Liverpool held on. The hosts had 22 shots to 14 and seven corners to two, though possession was close at 53% to 47%. Liverpool's next game is at home to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday 25 October, while Villarreal travel to Valencia in La Liga on Saturday 24 October.
Alexis Mac Allister scored twice, in the 36th and 65th minutes, and finished with a rating of 9.19. Rio Ngumoha supplied two assists, for Araújo's equaliser and Mac Allister's second.
Liverpool had 22 shots to Villarreal's 14, and 7 of them were on target to 5.
Liverpool beat Villarreal 4–3 (half-time 2–2).
Liverpool met Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League (League Stage - 3). Kick-off was Tuesday, 20 October 2026, 19:00 UTC at Anfield. Referee: Szymon Marciniak.
Team pages: Liverpool · Villarreal · UEFA Champions League
Key moments
- 4' Goal: Georges Mikautadze — 0–1 · Watch Georges Mikautadze's goal video (4')
- 29' Goal: Sergi Cardona (assist: Nathan Saliba) — 0–2 · Watch Sergi Cardona's goal video (29')
- 36' Goal: Alexis Mac Allister (assist: Kostas Tsimikas) — 1–2 · Watch Alexis Mac Allister's goal video (36')
- 45+2' Goal: Ronald Araújo (assist: Rio Ngumoha) — 2–2 · Watch Ronald Araújo's goal video (45+2')
- 65' Goal: Alexis Mac Allister (assist: Rio Ngumoha) — 3–2 · Watch Alexis Mac Allister's goal video (65')
- 68' Goal: Florian Wirtz (assist: Cody Gakpo) — 4–2 · Watch Florian Wirtz's goal video (68')
- 87' Goal: Tani Oluwaseyi (assist: Ayoze Pérez) — 4–3 · Watch Tani Oluwaseyi's goal video (87')
Starting line-ups
Liverpool (4-2-3-1)
Villarreal (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Liverpool 57%, the draw 21%, Villarreal 22%. It finished Liverpool 4–3 Villarreal.
Liverpool's stronger rating drives a clear lead — We give Liverpool 57% mainly because they sit 121 points higher on our strength rating, 1864 to 1743, though Villarreal's finishing pulls a little the other way, as cold streaks like theirs have tended to bounce back. The draw starts near 25% for a gap this size but drops to 21%, lowered by high-scoring recent games averaging 3.2 goals and that finishing streak.
Why Liverpool at 57%?
Liverpool sit 121 points higher on our strength rating — 1864 to 1743. Sides with a 80–160-point rating edge at home won 56.7% of 13,381 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 59–23–18.
Why only 57%?
Villarreal sit -0.51 goals per game below chance-quality — cold streaks like this have bounced back. Finishing swings carry a receipt at this rating gap too: sides finishing this cold won 38.6% of 2,560 such games where the class table expected 35.8%.
Why is the draw only 21%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.8%. These teams' recent games average 3.2 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 23.2% of 17,062. The goals environment takes 2.1 points off the draw. The bounce-back factor takes 1.3 points off the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Out: Dominik Szoboszlai, a star player, and Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike, rotation players. This does not change our forecast yet: we are still measuring how much missing players like these cost a team. Out: Nicolas Pépé, an important player. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Liverpool vs Villarreal final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Champions League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Georges Mikautadze's goal against Liverpool (4').
- Watch Sergi Cardona's goal against Liverpool (29').
- Watch Alexis Mac Allister's goal against Villarreal (36').
- Watch Ronald Araújo's goal against Villarreal (45+2').
- Watch Alexis Mac Allister's goal against Villarreal (65').
- Watch Florian Wirtz's goal against Villarreal (68').
- Watch Tani Oluwaseyi's goal against Liverpool (87').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Liverpool 4–3 Villarreal. Explore more on the Liverpool and Villarreal team pages or the UEFA Champions League page.