Champions League Fixtures: Liverpool Beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield

Updated October 21, 2026: Liverpool’s Champions League match against Villarreal is complete. Liverpool recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win 4-3 at Anfield on Matchday 3 of the 2026–27 league phase. The result gave the Reds nine points from their first three league-phase games. The score and comeback are confirmed by Liverpool’s official match report and UEFA’s results list.

Liverpool vs Villarreal final score and match summary

Final score: Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal. The visitors went ahead through Georges Mikautadze and Sergi Cardona, but Liverpool drew level before halftime. Alexis Mac Allister headed in from a Kostas Tsimikas corner, and Ronald Araújo then scored with a header from Rio Ngumoha’s cross. After the break, Mac Allister scored again to put Liverpool in front, and Florian Wirtz added a fourth three minutes later. Villarreal substitute Tani Oluwaseyi pulled one back late, but Liverpool held on for the win.

Liverpool’s match report describes the two-goal recovery and confirms the scoring sequence. UEFA’s league-phase results page also records Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal on Tuesday, October 20. The official match record identifies the game as fixture 2049590. Liverpool reported an attendance of 59,610.

Ngumoha assisted Araújo’s equalizer and set a Liverpool record for assists in European competition, according to the club’s separate post-match report. Mac Allister’s two goals and Wirtz’s second-half strike completed the home side’s four-goal return. These details describe this completed match; they are not predictions or team news for a future fixture.

Date, kickoff time, and venue

Competition: 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase, Matchday 3
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. in Liverpool, British Summer Time (BST, UTC+01:00); 19:00 UTC
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool, England
Result: Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal

Liverpool’s fixture schedule listed an 8:00 p.m. UK kickoff. The UK was observing BST on October 20, so the local time was UTC+01:00 and the corresponding UTC kickoff was 19:00 on the same date. The match has already taken place; these times are retained for readers checking the original fixture. UEFA lists the pairing at Anfield under match ID 2049590.

There was no change to the actual event time when converting between the venue’s time and UTC. The date stayed October 20 in both Liverpool and UTC, so international readers do not need to account for a date change for this kickoff.

Confirmed starting lineups

The lineups below are the starting elevens for the completed Matchday 3 match. They are included as a record of who started, not as an update on current availability or a preview of Liverpool’s next game. Liverpool confirmed its team before kickoff, and UEFA’s official match page provides the match lineup record.

Liverpool

Alisson Becker; Virgil van Dijk, Jérémy Jacquet, Ronald Araújo, Kostas Tsimikas; Alexis Mac Allister, Trey Nyoni, Ryan Gravenberch; Cody Gakpo, Lewis Koumas, Rio Ngumoha.

Liverpool made six changes from its previous starting lineup. The club named Gravenberch and Nyoni in midfield, with Tsimikas, Gakpo, Koumas, and Ngumoha also starting. Wirtz came on at halftime and scored Liverpool’s fourth goal. Liverpool’s official lineup announcement and match report document the team and the later substitutions.

Villarreal

Péter Gulácsi; Santiago Mouriño, Pau Navarro, Renato Veiga, Sergi Cardona; Santi Comesaña, Pape Gueye, Nathan Saliba; Tajon Buchanan, Georges Mikautadze, Alberto Moleiro.

Those names represent Villarreal’s starting group for this specific fixture. They should not be read as confirmation that each player is available for a later match. For current selection news, readers should check the club or UEFA announcement for the next scheduled game.

What the result means in the league phase

The win gave Liverpool three victories from three matches and nine points at the end of Matchday 3. The Reds had opened the league phase with a 2-1 home win over Atlético de Madrid, then beat LASK 6-3 away before hosting Villarreal. Liverpool’s match report said the Villarreal result extended the club’s winning start in the competition.

Villarreal had beaten Napoli 3-1 in its previous league-phase game. The 4-3 loss at Anfield therefore ended that matchday’s campaign on a different note, but it did not eliminate Villarreal: the league phase continues, and teams still have further fixtures to play. This article does not assign a final table position based only on Liverpool’s result, because other Matchday 3 matches were scheduled for October 21 and the standings could change as those games finished.

The league-phase format also matters when interpreting this result. Liverpool and Villarreal were not playing a two-leg knockout tie, so the 4-3 score decided only this match and its league-phase points. It did not settle a semifinal or determine either club’s overall European fate.

Previous European meetings

The clubs had met in two earlier European semifinal ties. In the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League semifinal, Villarreal won the first leg 1-0 at home before Liverpool advanced with a 3-0 victory at Anfield. In the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League semifinal, Liverpool won 2-0 at home and then completed the tie with a 3-2 away win in Spain.

UEFA’s preview of the 2026 match records that history and distinguishes the earlier knockout ties from this league-phase meeting. The October 20 match was a single league-phase fixture, not a continuation of either old semifinal. Liverpool’s 4-3 result added a new scoreline to the matchup but did not change the outcome of those previous ties.

Anfield ticket availability

Liverpool’s official ticket listing for the October 20 match displays SOLD OUT. The club’s ticket page records the fixture as played and preserves the sales notice. The published sales process included a sale for eligible season-ticket holders and registered All Red members, subject to remaining availability after an earlier window for supporters with a European home-match credit balance of one.

The club said that any later sale would be first come, first served if seats remained, with no guarantee for every eligible applicant. The published limits allowed one ticket per supporter ID number and up to four tickets in a booking, subject to availability. The ticket page also records that the match sold out on Friday, October 16, at 1:00 p.m. UK time. These were conditions for this particular fixture, not a general rule for every Liverpool match.

Because the match has been completed and the official listing is sold out, there are no match tickets to buy for this event through the original sale. For future fixtures, use the official Liverpool ticket page for that match and check its own eligibility, sale dates, and availability. Do not rely on this Villarreal sales notice as a promise of access to a different game.

Quick facts

• Final: Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal.
• Competition: 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase, Matchday 3.
• Date and venue: Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at Anfield in Liverpool.
• Kickoff record: 8:00 p.m. BST (UTC+01:00), equivalent to 19:00 UTC.
• Attendance: 59,610, as reported by Liverpool FC.
• Ticket status: Liverpool’s official listing shows the match as sold out.

The confirmed update for anyone searching for Liverpool vs Villarreal Champions League fixtures is the final result: Liverpool came from two goals behind to win 4-3 at Anfield. The kickoff conversion, matchday lineups, league-phase context, and ticket status above preserve the useful details of the original fixture while clearly marking the event as complete.

Official sources: UEFA’s league-phase fixtures and results; UEFA match page; Liverpool’s match report; Liverpool’s confirmed lineup announcement; Liverpool’s Ngumoha assist report; Liverpool’s fixture schedule; Liverpool’s ticket listing; UEFA’s match facts and previous-meeting record.