A nightmare start that Anfield somehow clawed back

Liverpool find themselves level at the break against Villarreal in their Champions League fixture at Anfield, but the scoreline flatters the hosts considerably. The Reds were shocking for the opening half-hour, gifting the Spanish side two goals through a combination of individual errors and a collective lethargy that will have left Andoni Iraola fuming in the dressing room.

It started as badly as it possibly could. Virgil van Dijk, wearing the captain's armband, produced a poor header back that Georges Mikautadze pounced on inside four minutes to open the scoring. It was the earliest Liverpool have conceded in this competition at home in 25 years, and the nature of it was all too familiar. Villarreal barely had to do a thing. Then, on 29 minutes, Sergi Cardona sprung the offside trap and slotted past Alisson to double the lead, and at that point it looked bleak. Very bleak.

How Liverpool got themselves back into it

Just when the tie appeared to be slipping away, Alexis Mac Allister offered a lifeline with a lovely glancing header from a Kostas Tsimikas corner in the 36th minute. It was the kind of moment the Argentine midfielder makes look effortless, and it gave Anfield something to cling onto. Then, right on the stroke of half-time, Ronald Araujo got his head to a teasing cross from Rio Ngumoha to make it 2-2, sending the ground into the interval with renewed belief rather than despair.

Ngumoha deserves special mention across a first half where he was largely the one Liverpool player who looked switched on and determined from the first whistle. His surging runs and direct approach caused Villarreal problems throughout, and it was his cross that set up the equaliser. For a player who had faded somewhat after a promising opening quarter, that contribution at the death of the half was enormous.

The second half and what has changed

Liverpool have come out brighter after the break, with Ngumoha again prominent and Ryan Gravenberch going close with a near-post effort. Florian Wirtz has also come on as a substitute, with Araujo appearing to make way, which adds another dimension going forward. The Reds are very much in the ascendancy at the time of writing, though Villarreal remain dangerous on the counter and the hosts will need to convert their pressure into a goal.

The concern remains that this squad is stretched. Dominik Szoboszlai, Jeremie Frimpong and Victor Munoz are all absent, and the six changes made to the starting lineup showed in the disjointed first-half performance. Liverpool have already shown this season that they can come from behind, having done exactly that in the Premier League, but doing so in Europe against a side that barely needed to break a sweat to go 2-0 up is a different challenge entirely. The second half will tell us a great deal about where this group of players actually are.