Villarreal (H) - UCL Semi Final 1st leg, Wed 27th Apr 2022 (8:00pm)

[Scott_M]

23 minutes ago, Harry Squatter said:

Moreno had a hamstring injury a week ago and was due to miss this game but haven't heard anything about him being back. 

 

Helped them that they never played at all at the weekend. 

I read they expect him out today but back next week.

[JagSquared]

17 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

They’ve lost to Levante and Cadiz this month. 

They’ll be set up completely differently for this, in those games they would have needed to be on the front foot. This will be a challenge they’ll certainly be up for it so an early goal would be best. 

[Bjornebye]

Just now, JagSquared said:

They’ll be set up completely differently for this, in those games they would have needed to be on the front foot. This will be a challenge they’ll certainly be up for it so an early goal would be best. 

Yeah agreed. I’m not looking forward this anywhere near as much as I should be. If the second leg was at Anfield I reckon I’d be 10 x more optimistic. 

[JagSquared]

11 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Yeah agreed. I’m not looking forward this anywhere near as much as I should be. If the second leg was at Anfield I reckon I’d be 10 x more optimistic. 

Yeah was thinking the same. I had assumed we were away then saw the thread title. Think they’ll be happy with a 1 goal loss, it’s going to be a slog tonight. 

[3 Stacks]

Their La Liga form couldn't be more irrelevant to this tie. In the Champions League, they've shown themselves to be an interesting combination of a team that is very proficient at defending deep, combined with the ability to play out from the back and out of the pressing, into dangerous counters.

 

I watched the Bayern games and it was very impressive what they did to them. The only time Bayern accomplished anything was when they put their pressing in hyperdrive and forced mistakes when Villarreal were trying to play it out. But they couldn't do it enough. Our pressing will have to be spot on. We'll need to be able to create transitions for ourselves or else we'll just be banging our head against two banks of 4 and they'll eventually create breaks. 

[KMD7]

Any word on Bobby's fitness? Could do with his pressing tonight.

[Allan]

2 hours ago, KMD7 said:

Any word on Bobby's fitness? Could do with his pressing tonight.

Looks to be a game too early for Bobby - Offal

 

Roberto Firmino looks set to miss out on Wednesday night's Anfield encounter, however, but is edging closer to a return to full training. 

 

The No.9 has missed the Reds' last two matches with the foot injury he sustained at Wembley against Manchester City in the Emirates FA Cup.

"I don't think [he is ready] yet," Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com on Tuesday. "He is running outside and that's good, obviously, but I am not sure. 

 

"Maybe somebody will surprise me afterwards and tell me, 'Yes, Bobby is in.' [I will have] open arms, but I don't think so.

 

"Apart from that, no [new injuries] that I know yet."

For Villarreal, Yeremy Pino has been ruled out due to injury, while the fitness of forward Gerard Moreno will be closely monitored as he recovers from a hamstring issue.  

 

Former Liverpool left-back Alberto Moreno is unavailable after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in early March.

 

"Yeremy Pino is going to be missing, he has an injury that is dragging on," boss Unai Emery said at his pre-match press conference. "He trained yesterday but he won't be able to play.

 

"Gerard Moreno is working well, and the idea is that he will pick up the pace tomorrow. Francis Coquelin has trained as normal."

[Colonel Bumcunt]

_---------------Allison---------------

 

--------Gomez---VVD----Matip-------

 

Trent------Thiago---Keita-----Tsimikas---

 

------Salah-------Origi--------Diaz------

 

Just spread three CBs across the line to deal with the long balls, then attack.  No need for Fabinho deep.  

[JohnnyH]

"Divock + 10"

[m0e]

51 minutes ago, Colonel Bumcunt said:

_---------------Allison---------------

 

--------Gomez---VVD----Matip-------

 

Trent------Thiago---Keita-----Tsimikas---

 

------Salah-------Origi--------Diaz------

 

Just spread three CBs across the line to deal with the long balls, then attack.  No need for Fabinho deep.  

You must have been high when your came up with that. 

[El Rojo]

Echoes of Rafa in terms of Emery's European record. While neither is as good as they have been in the past, they still really shouldn't be beating sides like Juventus and Bayern, same as us against Juventus and Chelsea in 2005.

 

They also probably benefit a little from their domestic season being a dead rubber for quite a while now - Benitez worked that well too for us back in the day. 

 

We could potentially struggle to break them down tonight, but then again everyone's got a plan for us until they invariably get punched in the face. They won't have faced anything like us.  With the ridiculous attacking depth that we have (haven't seen an FSG thread bumped in a while), we'll go into an even higher gear after our traditional on-the-hour changes if they've managed to live with us up to then. 

 

I hope Konate, Hendo and Diaz all start to bring even more energy to each line. 

[Jairzinho]

7 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

Echoes of Rafa in terms of Emery's European record. While neither is as good as they have been in the past, they still really shouldn't be beating sides like Juventus and Bayern, same as us against Juventus and Chelsea in 2005.

 

They also probably benefit a little from their domestic season being a dead rubber for quite a while now - Benitez worked that well too for us back in the day. 

 

We could potentially struggle to break them down tonight, but then again everyone's got a plan for us until they invariably get punched in the face. They won't have faced anything like us.  With the ridiculous attacking depth that we have (haven't seen an FSG thread bumped in a while), we'll go into an even higher gear after our traditional on-the-hour changes if they've managed to live with us up to then. 

 

I hope Konate, Hendo and Diaz all start to bring even more energy to each line. 

I agree with Mr Potato and the former woman here.

[El Rojo]

3 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

I agree with Mr Potato and the former woman here.

Knew my FSG bait would draw you out, Nightcat. 

[KMD7]

1 hour ago, JohnnyH said:

"Divock + 10"

The only sensible line up

[Jairzinho]

7 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

Knew my FSG bait would draw you out, Nightcat. 

I'm not giving her back.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Get this done.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Just watching the live stream of their fans heading to Anfield. They look well up for it and are a boisterous bunch. Love to see it though. Just a load of happy fans, enjoying a massive night for their team. Getting behind them. No songs about tragedy and dead people. No belts getting whipped off to use as weapons. 
 

That’s what big/big European matches should be all about. 

[halewood pete]

8 minutes ago, Nelly-Matip said:

Just watching the live stream of their fans heading to Anfield. They look well up for it and are a boisterous bunch. Love to see it though. Just a load of happy fans, enjoying a massive night for their team. Getting behind them. No songs about tragedy and dead people. No belts getting whipped off to use as weapons. 
 

That’s what big/big European matches should be all about. 

Absolutely spot on mate

[halewood pete]

Desperate for a seventh photo

[an tha]

40 minutes ago, halewood pete said:

Desperate for a seventh photo

Two 77's on there....

[Jennings]

I am in the Sandon if anyone fancies a pre-match fight. 

[an tha]

[Bjornebye]

Made up with that side. 

[El Rojo]

1 hour ago, El Rojo said:

I hope Konate, Hendo and Diaz all start to bring even more energy to each line. 

Whichever of you is Jurgen, thanks for playing attention.

[bizzle10]

Come on boys lets have a nice boring 4-0 victory none of the madness from city/madrid