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It’s the second instalment of Premier League football on a Friday night and Chelsea and Liverpool should be looking forward to this one as much as we are.
For Chelsea, it’s a chance to go top of the table and recover from their first stumble of the season at Swansea last weekend while Liverpool will be raring to go again after that thumping win over champions Leicester.
They’ve had all week to get ready for this - if they weren’t pressing their noses against the Champions League window - and Blues boss Antonio Conte’s preparations were hit by the news that John Terry is out for 10 days with an ankle injury.
Fans’ favourite David Luiz is in line for his second debut in place of the captain at the heart of the defence and he insisted this week he’s a much better player than he was when he left for Paris two years ago.
Well, the curly-haired Brazilian will have to be as he’ll be up against the team with more Premier League goals (50) than any other in 2016.
But the Blues aren’t too shabby themselves up top with Diego Costa at his snarling best having scored four Premier League goals from as many games under Conte.
Most firms have the hosts at 5/4, the best price for an away win is 12/5 and it’s 13/5 the draw.
Recent history doesn’t point to a return for anyone backing the Reds as, since 2011-12, the season Liverpool completed a league double over Chelsea, beat them in the League Cup but lost to them in the FA Cup final, they’ve won just one of 10 meetings, lost four with five ending all square.
Three of the five matches where the spoils weren’t shared were settled by the odd goal so Chelsea with a one-goal winning margin is worth a nibble at 3/1. Liverpool are 4/1 in the same market.
If, as expected, Luiz starts, we’ll be on him to score at any time. He’s handy with a free-kick, loves getting forward and is 10/1 with Paddy Power and Betway.
In truth, we should be ignoring all things Chelsea after they let us down last week. But there’s no room for grudges. The Blues failing to win at Swansea scuppered three aways at 9/1 and their neighbours Fulham ruined a 25/1 BTTS line by drawing a blank against Birmingham as nine other teams found the net.
Bloody west Londoners. But, we move on.
England’s four Champions League teams should all enjoy a winning return to domestic action. Manchester City and Leicester can build on brilliant midweek results when they tackle Bournemouth and Burnley respectively while Tottenham, losers at Wembley against Monaco, are in the fortunate position of having to play Sunderland.
Arsenal pinched a valuable point at PSG and are on the road again, at a Hull side enjoying their best start to a Premier League season after four games. The Tigers needed a 95th-minute leveller against Burnley last time out though and the Gunners should have enough to take the points back down south. An away win with both teams scoring is 5/2.
After Thursday’s Europa League action, Jose Mourinho said he’ll go back to playing a ‘normal’ team at Watford on Sunday after making eight changes for the loss at Feyenoord.
The ordinary boys are fancied to do the business – they’re no better than 4/6 – but the hosts will be buoyed by last week’s remarkable turnaround as it all kicked off at West Ham and are worth backing to sneak a point with a score draw available at 24/5 in a few places.
Elsewhere, the Hammers appeal at 15/8 to beat West Brom, Everton should thump Middlesbrough, Palace look bankers at home to Stoke and Everton should see off Boro. Southampton vs Swansea has the look of a draw.
It was Meat Loaf who sang Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad on his classic album Bat Out Of Hell and the larger-than-life American had as many shots on target in the Manchester derby last Saturday as David Silva. Our other two anytime scorers, Robert Snodgrass and Christian Benteke, came in but there was no Silva lining and no 100/1 return. Not to be put off though, this week’s treble is Dimitri Payet, Troy Deeney and Gylfi Sigurdsson. The return with Unibet and 32Red is just over 75/1.
*Odds supplied by oddschecker.com - All prices correct at time of publication - subject to change
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