Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, after trailing 2-0 by the 29th minute, and moved to nine points from three games in the Champions League league phase. Villarreal scored first through Georges Mikautadze in the 4th minute and doubled their lead through Sergi Cardona in the 29th, but Liverpool scored four times between the 36th and 68th minutes, through Alexis Mac Allister (36th and 65th), Ronald Araujo (45th minute plus two) and Florian Wirtz (68th). Tani Oluwaseyi pulled one back for the visitors in the 87th minute, and the attendance was 59,610. Liverpool have now won all three of their league-phase matches, with 12 goals scored and seven conceded.
The argument that Liverpool controlled the game once it turned is clear from the timeline. The comeback began with a header from Mac Allister, assisted by Kostas Tsimikas with a cross following a corner, and it was completed before half-time when Araujo headed in at the six-yard box from Rio Ngumoha’s corner delivery, in stoppage time at the end of the first half. After the break Ngumoha set up Mac Allister again, who scored from very close range in the 65th minute, and Cody Gakpo’s fast-break pass created the fourth goal for Wirtz three minutes later. Liverpool had 22 shots against Villarreal’s 14, with seven on target against five, and they won eight corners to two, so the 4-3 scoreline understates the home side’s territorial advantage. Mac Allister’s two goals were both assisted, and Ngumoha was involved in two of the four.
The counter-argument is that Liverpool’s defence was exposed. Villarreal scored three times from 14 shots, which is a conversion of one goal for every five shots, and they did so from a difficult angle on the left, from the centre of the box after a through ball by Nathan Saliba on a fast break, and from the centre of the box again at the end after a cross from Ayoze Pérez. The visitors had 47.5 percent of possession, but they used it well early in the game, and they were two goals up inside half an hour at Anfield. Liverpool have conceded seven goals in three games, which is the most among the five teams on nine points, and Villarreal’s third goal in the 87th minute came when the home side was already 4-2 up and had the game nearly won. Moleiro and Mouriño were both booked for Villarreal.
The result matters because Liverpool are in a group of five clubs on nine points, along with Paris Saint-Germain, Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Real Betis, and the table separates them by goal difference and goals scored. Liverpool are third with a goal difference of plus five, behind PSG and Aston Villa who are both on plus nine, and level with Real Madrid. Villarreal, with one win and two defeats, have three points and are 19th, with eight goals scored and eight conceded, so the defeat leaves them in the middle of the pack. For Liverpool, the lesson is that scoring four does not remove the problem of conceding three at home.
Liverpool showed resilience to win after trailing 2-0, and the contributions of Mac Allister, Ngumoha and Wirtz were decisive. They also gave up three goals in a Champions League game at Anfield, which is something that the manager will want to fix before the next fixture.