Liverpool have not lost an away match in 2022 and Dan Fitch doesn’t expect them to start at Villarreal on Tuesday, as he creates a Champions League Bet Builder.
Villarreal 5.14/1 v Liverpool 1.768/11; The Draw 4.216/5
Tuesday 3 May, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 2
Liverpool have not lost away this year
Relentless Liverpool need to finish off what they’ve started on Tuesday, with Jurgen Klopp’s side having one foot in the Champions League final.
A 2-0 win at Anfield in the first-leg last week, puts Liverpool in a very strong position against Villarreal. Liverpool are on a twelve match unbeaten (W10 D2), since losing the second-leg of their last-16 clash against Inter.
Their away record gives further evidence that Liverpool will reach their third Champions League final since Klopp joined the club. They have not lost an away match all year (P11 W10 D1), extending that run on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Newcastle.
That victory kept Liverpool within a point of the Premier League leaders Manchester City, in the title race. Having already won the EFL Cup and reached the final of the FA Cup, Liverpool could land the quadruple this season and Klopp is earning his money with his canny team selection, as he tries to keep his players fresh, through a gruelling schedule.
Against Newcastle, Klopp made the decision to start with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Fabinho, Thiago Alacantara and Mohamed Salah on the bench. Those players should all come back into the team to face Villarreal.
After losing 2-0 at Liverpool last week, Villarreal suffered a 2-1 defeat at Alaves in La Liga on Saturday. Unai Emery also made plenty of changes, but unlike Klopp, he doesn’t have the talent at his disposal to maintain standards. After winning the Europa League last season, Villarreal have done brilliantly to reach this stage of the Champions League, but this Liverpool team are surely too good to be overcome.
Salah a certain starter
It’s tempting to start this Bet Builder by backing Liverpool to win, considering their brilliant away form this year. However, it’s always a risk to back a team to win, when they only need a draw and in both of Liverpool’s games in the knockout stages of the competition this season, they have failed to win the second-leg after claiming victory in the first (P2 D1 L1).
So instead, we will play conservatively and begin with Liverpool to avoid defeat in the Double Chance market at 1/7 on the Sportsbook. To that we’ll add under 3.5 goals at 2/5, with Liverpool already having done the hard work and now just needing to keep things tight.
It remains to be seen as to who gets picked in Liverpool’s front three, now that Klopp has so many attacking options, but we know that Salah will start, after being rested on Saturday. Salah is 4/7 to either score or assist and that creates a Bet Builder treble that pays out at odds of 3.39/4.
Source: Betfair Champions League
