Exclusive:
Our betting expert with tips for Etihad title-race showdown and all today’s top-flight matches PLUS a Serie A angle
Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Even the tiniest uptweak in Mo Salah’s touch could decide this Premier League title race.
Small margins don’t come much smaller than the one between Liverpool and Manchester City (4.30pm) these days. City have won a single point more over the 144 games since their 2018 title.
But that’s a yawning chasm compared to the infamous 12mm that denied the Reds an ‘on the line’ effort when they lost 2-1 at the Etihad in 2019. In almost every football match ever, from back yard to Bernabeu, a goal. Computer says no.
The cold, dead eye of VAR has been getting the evils from Jurgen Klopp in the build-up. Paul Tierney will be today’s wizard of Stockley Park.
Clearly, the real VAR blooper was revealing it’s just some bloke sitting behind a big curtain, with a mug of instant and a wagon wheel.
Today, along with many exciting pauses while the Almighty Oz scratches his almighty arze, we can surely expect goals. The last five Prem meetings have seen 19. Salah has scored in four of them.
He’s in a micro-slump after two career-bruising facers with Egypt, but Mo’s still got the brains, the heart, the nerve… and Skybet’s standout price is bewitching. Get on Salah ‘anytime scorer’ at 5/2.
Liverpool and Manchester City are also battling it out at the top of the Prem’s ‘penalties won’ table. There’s been a spot-kick scored in three of their past five PL meetings too.
But some firms are offering just 6/4 that ‘a penalty is awarded’ at the Etihad (4.30pm) which as greed goes is frankly coming on a bit Rishi.
Still, a spot-kick forecast uptick adds heft to the claims of Riyad Mahrez. Punt him ‘anytime scorer’ at a fair 2/1 (Unibet).
And get on ‘Liverpool score a pen’ at 11/2 (Bet365) — that’s bob-on for their raw data.
Looming European dates cast a shadow on the West Ham and Leicester games, but Wilfried Zaha is a must-have ‘anytime’ bet on his stats at 27/10 (Unibet) for Crystal Palace at the Foxes (2pm).
Brentford (2pm) should fear the counter-punch of the Hammers, but that’s not their way. Punt Jarrod Bowen ‘anytime’ at 11/4 (Bet365).
Norwich-Burnley (2pm) is a bleak prospect – ‘no scorer’ at 7/1 (Fred) fits.
Over in Italy, Torino-Milan (7.45pm, Serie A) looks very tight and goal-lite on the data – get on NO ‘both teams score’ at 20/21 (BetVic).