Despite their mixed Premier League form, Liverpool have to be targeting top spot in this gigantic Champions League table. So far, Andoni Iraola's team have enjoyed wins over Atlético Madrid and LASK, and all of their remaining matches are winnable too.
After this visit from Villarreal, the Reds host both Porto and Lens, as well as taking on Fenerbahçe, Club Brugge and Internazionale Milano on the road, hence why picking up of points is well within this team's capabilities.
On Tuesday night, they will be seeking to avoid being sunk by the Yellow Submarine, and UEFA's choice of referee has brought about a mind-blowing coincidence.
Liverpool vs Villarreal: Refereeing team
- Referee: Szymon Marciniak.
- Assistant referees: Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik
- Fourth official: Wojciech Myc.
- Video assistant referee: Piotr Lasyk.
- Assistant video assistant referee: Benjamin Brand.
It is an all-Polish team of officials, aside from Germany AVAR Benjamin Brand. The centre referee will be 45 year old Szymon Marciniak who, in both 2022 and 2023, was named the "World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.
To reflect this, he took charge of the 2022 World Cup Final, the following year's Champions League Final and the most-recent European Championships Final between England and Spain at the Olympiastadion. Marciniak is vastly experienced, but this will be his first trip to Merseyside for a while.
Szymon Marciniak's previous Liverpool matches as referee
- 27 April 2022: Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal - 3 yellows; Virgil van Dijk booked.
- 16 February 2022: Inter Milan 0-2 Liverpool - No yellow cards.
- 15 September 2021: Liverpool 3-2 A.C. Milan - 3 yellows; James Milner booked.
- 18 February 2020: Atlético Madrid 1-0 Liverpool - 3 yellows; Joe Gomez and Sadio Mané booked.
- 28 November 2019: PSG 2-1 Liverpool - 8 yellows; van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Keïta, Sturridge booked.
- 6 December 2017: Liverpool 7-0 Spartak Moskva - 3 yellows; Emre Can booked.
- 19 February 2015: Liverpool 1-0 Beşiktaş - 5 yellows; Dejan Lovren booked.
In a bizarre coincidence, this will be Marciniak's first Liverpool match for four and a half years. The last was also against Villarreal at Anfield, the first leg of the 2022 Champions League semi-finals, a match Jürgen Klopp's side won 2-0. All four times Marciniak has taken charge of a game on Merseyside, the Reds have won all four, scoring 13 goals and conceding only two.
He has though twice cautioned Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, so both may need to be careful, assuming they feature. Overall, since the start of last season, Marciniak has produced 138 yellow cards and seven reds across 43 matches, an average of 3.4 cards per game, which is slightly below average, probably a good attribute in a referee.
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