Liverpool Vs Southampton

Liverpool Vs Southampton

Match facts

  • Brendan Rodgers will be without summer signing Adam Lallana for Liverpool’s first game of the season as the England international has a knee injury.
  • Daniel Agger, Jon Flanagan and Lazar Markovic are doubts, but could feature in some capacity.
  • Rodgers may be tempted to field that same XI which took to the field in the friendly against Borussia Dortmund last weekend, which would see Dejan Lovren, Javier Manquillo and Emre Can handed their first competitive starts for the Reds.
  • After a summer fire-sale, Ronald Koeman may be tempted to start all of his 5 summer signings for the trip to Anfield.
  • Fraser Forster, Ryan Bertrand, Saphir Taïder, Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pellè could all feature from the off as Southampton look to claim a huge scalp early in the new campaign.
  • Jay Rodriguez is Koeman’s only injury concern, while wantaway midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin is expected to miss out here.

Predictions

Liverpool begin life post-Luis Suarez with the welcome of Southampton and Brendan Rodgers will be keen to avoid a similar result at Anfield against Saints to last season. The south coast club secured a memorable 1-0 win over their Premier League counterparts, so Rodgers will want the team to avoid complacency this time out.

Koeman has a number of new arrivals to call on for the trip to Merseyside and despite their limited time together, they will need to adjust to the rigours of the Premier League quickly if Saints are to replicate their feats from last term.

Unfortunately for Saints, Liverpool still have enough about them to secure maximum points here so I predict a 2:1 at final whistle .

 

NaijaBet Odds

At the time of this post, NaijaBet is tipping Liverpool to win at slightly over 100% and  Southampton to win at over 700%.

Current Odd : 1.31    4.76    7.87

Tips: Liverpool v Arsenal

Liverpool (2.5) Draw (3.3) Arsenal (3)
Liverpool have started their competitive season already with 2 games in the Europa League. They are looking a lot better this season and with the new signings I expect them to do a better. Arsenal have been tipped again by many to run close to winning the league. I am not too sure. They are over rated in my eyes and they showed it at the end of last season. I am looking at the odds here for a Liverpool win and I can’t believe they are 2.5. Arsenal did the double over Liverpool last year so maybe that explains it but this year they have a new mananger and some great new signings. Liverpool win for me, its 2.5 at VC Bet. Another bet worth considering is both teams to score. Thats 2.0 at bluesquare. Looking at the stats, in the last 10 games, it would have come in 9 times.

Latest Tip: Football Betting Tips

Tottenham (2.4) Draw (3.4) Manchester City (3.1)
Its the new big 4 team vs the wannabe big for team. Harry Redknapp has more or less kept the same side whereas Manchester City have pulled out the chequebook again. This is a tricky fixture to call. Man City will have problems getting the new signings all working together. Their pre-season was pretty poor. Its going to be hard for Mancini to get them all working together on day one. After Christmas maybe when the team has gelled I could make a good case for City. This fixture has been kind for Spurs over the years. Its been 2-1 5 times in a row only to have been broken last year 3-0. I’ll go for Spurs here. If they are going to build on last years achievement then this is the type of game they have to win. Its 2.4 at William Hill.

Aston Villa (2) Draw (3.4) West Ham (4.3)
Last week this game had a totally different dimension. With O’Neil leaving, it leaves Villa with no manager. This has pushed the odds out for Villa. They were as low as 1.62 before O’Neil’s departure. Villa have made new signings to its going to be the same team that finished 6th. West Ham are in the rebuilding stage. With Avram Grant at the helm this year they probably won’t be staring relegation in the face like last season. I can see why the odds have gone up on Villa but I am not sure I agree with that. Its the same team but with O’Neil. I think that Villa at even money at naijabet is a pretty good price considering.

Blackburn (3) Draw (3.3) Everton (2.5)
I think that Blackburn will struggle this season. They were fortunate to finish 10th last season and with no new significant signings it will be hard not to get pulled in to the relegation battle. Everton finished strongly last season and are expected to do better than the 8th they finished last season. If they hadn’t has the slow start last season they could well have been in the Champions League. As no team has significantly changed I’ll make my prediction on what would have happened if this game was played at the end of last season. I think a draw. Its also nice its the biggest price on the coupon too. 3.3 at William Hill.

Bolton (2.3) Draw (3.3) Fulham (3.5)
Bolton look like they are going to have a better season this year. Owen Coyle steered them away from relegation last year and has built significantly on his squad. Fulham have a new manager in Mark Hughes who must be kicking himself for taking that job now the Villa job is available. Saying that, Fulham are a decent side and have progressed much over the last 2 years. In terms of betting, this is one of the trickier fixtures to call. I am not too keen on Bolton at 2.3 at home to a decent Fulham side but then again I am not too keen on 3.5 on a Fulham side that won once away from home all season. I’ll plump for the draw again at 3.3 at William Hill

Sunderland (2.25) Draw (3.4) Birmingham (3.6)
What happened to Sunderland last season was a mystery. They started strong but a bad run at the end meant they finished nearer the bottom that the top. They have sold one part of their striking partnership in Kenwyne Jones but still have Darren Bent. He was injured for the England game midweek but looks like he’s going to start. Birmingham over achieved last season I think. I can’t see them doing what they did last season again. Betting wise its a tricky one and any result wouldn’t be too much of a surprise. You can sign up to NaijaBet to place your bet.

Wigan (1.83) Draw (3.6) Blackpool (5)
The first odds on game of the weekend. Who would have thought that Wigan would ever be odds on to anyone in the Premiership? Their opponents are Blackpool though that are 1.29 to get relegated. If Wigan fail to win this they will struggle this year. Blackpool have a few things on their side. They more or less have the same side which came up. Hull came up a couple of seasons ago and started off flying. If they are going to win any games away from home this season this could well be it. I still expect Wigan to win this though but not willing to back it. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I back Wigan at odds on in the Premiership.

Wolverhampton (2.4) Draw (3.3) Stoke (3.3)
Wolves have strengthened their side with new signings Jelle van Damme, Steven Fletcher and Steven Mouyokolo who are all expected to start. Unknown players to me but Jelle van Damme has got to have the coolest name in the Premiership. Kenwyne Jones is Stoke’s big summer signing which could be good for them. They’ve never had an out and out striker relying more on set pieces to get their goals. Betting wise this is another tricky call. I think under 2.5 goals is nailed on but at 1.63 best price at Bet365 it doesn’t seem worth it. I think the draw at 3.3 looks the best bet. I am weary of picking too many draws though after last seasons total lack of draws early on. Its 3.3 at Totesport anyway.

Chelsea (1.18) Draw (7.5) West Brom (21)
Banker of the weekend possibly. I am not too sure myself. Chelsea will more than likely win this but at 1.18 its not a price that I’ll be backing as a single. Last season they had an easy game against Hull and it took a late goal from Drogba to win it. Their pre-season hasn’t been good, most noticeably losing to Manchester United in the Community Shield. If you lose at a short price its much more painful that losing at a big price. I think the Chelsea to win to nil at 1.8 at bluesquare
is a much better bet. The bookie is saying that its 4 times less likely that Chelsea win than it is for them to win to nil. That can’t be right.