The hour is nigh for Villarreal fans as they look forward to their second ever Champions League semi-final. That’s if they can contain their nerves.
Some will have received a small boost of confidence before the match upon seeing the team news, while others will have thrown their arms in the air.
With an hour to go before the match though, they can start to speculate on how the match will play out. Villarreal start with: Rulli, Foyth, Pau Torres, Albiol, Estupinan, Coquelin, Parejo, Capoue, Lo Celso, Chukwueze and Danjuma.
Their rivals Liverpool begin with: Allisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Diaz, Mane, Salah.
¡Nuestro 1️⃣1️⃣ inicial para el partidazo histórico de Anfield ante el @LFC!#UCL pic.twitter.com/AzuFAqdELy
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 27, 2022
⭐ TEAM NEWS ⭐
How we line-up for tonight’s #UCL semi-final! 👊#LIVVIL
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 27, 2022
Unai Emery has gone for a solid midfield, with four central midfielders included in the team. The likelihood is that they will play across a midfield line of four. That was the case against Bayern Munich, from which the only change is the absence of the injured Gerard Moreno for Samuel Chukwueze.
Liverpool meanwhile have more or less lined up as expected, although perhaps some had expected Joel Matip to start ahead of Ibrahima Konate and Diogo Jota loses out to Luis Diaz – as has been the case of late. Neither will greatly change Liverpool’s style, although Diaz perhaps stretches the game more horizontally than Jota.