Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 on Matchday 3 of the Champions League league phase, and the story of the night was the pair who turned a bad start into a win. Alexis Mac Allister scored twice and finished with a 9.19 rating, while Rio Ngumoha set up two goals and earned an 8.6 rating. Florian Wirtz also scored his first Liverpool goal since April.

Mac Allister and Ngumoha set the tone

Mac Allister was the best-rated player on the pitch and the one who gave Liverpool real control in the attacking phase. His two goals mattered because they came in a match that had already started badly, with Liverpool 2-0 down before the comeback began.

Ngumoha was the other standout. The teenager did not just supply the final pass twice, he kept Liverpool moving at a pace Villarreal struggled to live with once the match opened up. That 8.6 rating fits the eye test here, because his influence went well beyond the assists.

Wirtz added the third major attacking note. His goal was his first for Liverpool since April, and it helped turn a messy contest into a result that Liverpool simply had to get over the line.

Villarreal's fast start and Liverpool's pressure

Villarreal struck after four minutes through Georges Mikautadze, which set the tone for a first half in which Liverpool were exposed early. The early damage was real, but the response after the restart was stronger than the opening suggested.

Liverpool finished with 2.37 xG, 22 shots and 7 shots on target, while also winning 7 corners and ending with 53% possession. Those numbers match the way the match changed after the opening spell. Virgil van Dijk and Konstantinos Tsimikas were part of the same game, but the decisive edge came from the attack rather than from any single defensive adjustment.

Andoni Iraola, speaking to si.com, said [Iñigo Pérez] knows everything about him. That kind of familiarity may help explain Villarreal's sharp start, even if Liverpool still had enough quality to recover and win 4-3.

The record of the night belongs to the comeback and the pair who drove it. Mac Allister's 9.19 and Ngumoha's 8.6 were the clearest signs of why Liverpool escaped with three points, and they now move on with a 4-3 win already on the Champions League ledger.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →