Numbers used in this article are from Opta.
According to the Football Club Elo Ratings as of today (3 November 2025), Aston Villa, Liverpool’s most recent opponent in the Premier League, are eleventh in the table. Their next fixture is against sixth-placed Real Madrid, followed by a meeting on Sunday with fourth-placed Manchester City.
The two Premier League opponents before Villa were Brentford (21st) and Manchester United (20th). Hence, for the Reds, who are currently third in the ratings table, it marks a week where the level of opposition steps up significantly.
Let us focus on Madrid for now and the type of threat they could pose in a crucial Champions League game at Anfield. Their manager, Xabi Alonso, learnt a great deal from the only significant defeat his team have suffered so far this season, away to Atletico Madrid.
They had 66% possession in that game but created only 0.66 xG, despite starting their star names: Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler in the front four. The other side of the story is that they scored two goals despite creating so little.
It was a game where the 15-time European champions struggled to deal with set pieces and crosses delivered into the box from the second phase of those situations. They conceded two goals from simple crosses into the area, and the penalty for the third came from failing to deal with another ball into the box. In the league, they have conceded four goals from set-pieces in 11 games (joint-fifth).
Against Barcelona, their most recent big game, Alonso started with a similar front line to the one he used against Atletico, but compromised on possession to protect space and create chances either on the break or through more direct attacks. Despite being the home side, Madrid had only 32% possession but created 2.84 non-penalty xG and registered 23 attempts on goal, 10 of which were on target: all more than what Barcelona managed.
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