Villarreal v Liverpool preview: Jurgen Klopp's injury-hit squad aim to reach Europa League final

Roberto Soldado in training with Villarreal at El Madrigal on Wednesday

Liverpool are looking to reach their first European final since 2007 when they play Villarreal in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday night.

Jurgen Klopp's side travel to El Madrigal, but the German has not won a UEFA game in Spain before. He will be looking to put that record straight to try and lead Liverpool to the Europa League title in Basel.

Divock Origi was carried off on a stretcher during Liverpool's 4-0 win over Everton last Wednesday

Liverpool will be without plenty of key players for Thursday night's tie. Emre Can (ankle), Joe Gomez (knee), Jordan Henderson (knee), Divock Origi (ankle) and Danny Ings (knee) are all expected to miss out.

The Reds beat Borussia Dortmund in a highly dramatic second leg of the quarter-finals which saw the Merseyside club come from 3-1 down to win 4-3, progressing to the semi-finals 5-4 on aggregate.

Watch Alberto Moreno's shockingly bad impression of Sky Sports' Chris Kamara!

Meanwhile, Villarreal head coach Marcelino can boast about his side's very strong home record throughout their Europa League campaign. 'The Yellow Submarine' have won every game in Europe at El Madrigal, conceding just one goal.
In La Liga, Villarreal have performed above expectations and are currently fourth in the league standings. However, they have failed to win their previous three league games.

Villarreal welcomed back some of their players in unusual fashion ahead of their Europa League semi-final against Liverpool

Team news
Christian Benteke has travelled with Liverpool's squad for their Europa League semi-final first-leg tie in Villarreal.
The Belgium international has not featured for the club since the 3-2 defeat at Southampton on March 20 after sustaining a knee injury training with the international side.

The Press Association understands that Mamadou Sakho won't challenge the results of his failed drug test after Liverpool's game with Manchester United

Divock Origi is out for up to six weeks with ankle ligament damage whilst Emre Can (ankle), Joe Gomez (knee), Jordan Henderson (knee) and Danny Ings (knee) are all expected to miss out. Mamadou Sakho will also be missing due to a pending doping investigation.
Marcelino in stark contrast can almost call upon a fully fit squad. Only Leo Baptistao is missing as Jaume Costa and Mateo Mussachio passed late fitness tests.

Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral

In form strikers Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu are fit and ready to lead the line and skipper Bruno is set to lead his side out at El Madrigal.
Stats
This will be the first meeting between Villarreal and Liverpool in Europe.

We look at the player that could cause Liverpool a few problems, by watching all of Cedric Bakambu's goals in La Liga for Villarreal so far this season

Villarreal are winless in their last 10 games against English opposition (D6 L4) whilst Liverpool have lost three of their last four games against Spanish clubs.
This will be Liverpool's fourth European semi-final against a Spanish side; they've progressed from two of those but were eliminated last time versus Atletico Madrid in the 2009/10 Europa League semi-finals.

Watch Klopp confuse his translator

The Yellow Submarine have only failed to score in one of their last 31 Europa League matches (including qualifiers) whilst Liverpool have only scored in three of their most recent six games played in this competition versus Spanish opposition.

Klopp says Liverpool can only wait and find out what punishment Mamadou Sakho will face

11 players have scored for Liverpool in the 2015/16 Europa League; a competition-high this term.
Jurgen Klopp is yet to lose a European tie in charge of Liverpool; winning five and drawing five.

After Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Newcastle on Saturday, Adam Lallana said he was focused on the Europa League semi-final first-leg tie at Villarreal

Klopp was the victorious manager in his only previous major semi-final in European competition as a coach, seeing off Real Madrid over two legs (W1, L1) in the 2012/13 Champions League.
Cedric Bakambu has recorded braces in three of his last four Europa League appearances for Villarreal.

Klopp thinks his players deserve respect for reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League