Leicester City vs Liverpool
Third meets fourth in the Premier League opener this weekend when Jurgen Klopp takes his beleaguered Liverpool to face Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
Premier League: Leicester vs Liverpool is the match of the round, and there is much at stake for the two clubs, their players and head coaches. The defending champions are ten points behind current leaders Manchester City and the Sky Blues have a game in hand, while Leicester will be desperate to stay in a top four place, having surrendered one on the final day of last season.
Here at SBOTOP we reckon Liverpool and Leicester will both make a top-four place, Jurgen Klopp’s team is third favourite to win the title at odds of 27.00, with the Foxes are at 51.00 in fourth place. But, with the recently arrived Thomas Tuchel seemingly having an immediate impact on fifth-placed Chelsea, a defeat for either could be a serious blow.
Talking Points
Foxes on the run
The pre-match Leicester vs Liverpool news features an FA Cup tie that the Foxes have with Brighton on Wednesday night, while the Reds can take a breather, having exited the competition in the fourth round.
Former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says he will not rest key players, including the recently returned Jamie Vardy, as he sets his sight on some silverware. His team is in decent shape, led by inspirational keeper Kasper Schmeichel while attacking midfielders Harvey Barnes, with seven goals, and James Maddison with six, are enjoying their best season yet at the King Power. They have also contributed eight assists between them (Maddison five and Barnes three) and are both hoping to earn a place in England’s Euro 2020 squad.
Liverpool looking drained
The inescapable conclusion that long term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have seriously damaged Liverpool’s title hopes is not the only reason the champions look in some disarray. They have lost games they wouldn’t expect to, even with a severely weakened team.
Following defeats to Burnley and a cup exit at the hands of fierce rivals Manchester United, Klopp’s team looked back to their old selves with 3- 1 away victories over Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham. But, last week, the anguish returned with a defeat to Brighton and a humbling 1-4 lesson from hot favourites Manchester City.
TV pundit and former Manchester United star Gary Neville said the Reds looked drained while the Sky Blues looked like champions, and he likes neither of them!
Last season Liverpool’s wing backs Andy Roberson and Trent Alexander-Arnold provided bucket loads of assists, 25 between them and only beaten by Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, but they have toiled rather more this term, making five and three.
Vardy vs Salah
The 2020 Premier League Golden Boot winner comes up against the fifth-placed finisher when Leicester’s Jamie Vardy will meet Mo Salah in their own personal shootout. Vardy headed the list on 23 goals with Salah finishing on 19 last term. But this season the Egyptian has stolen a march, leading the 2021 race with 16 goals while Vardy has 11. Leicester’s artful Fox has been out for a while with a hernia injury but he’s back and firing.
Last season Salah was in a threesome of prolific scorers, but Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino haven’t been so productive this term, contributing 13 between them, which makes Vardy’s supporting colleagues just as dangerous.
History
The head to heads won’t inform our Leicester vs Liverpool betting odds but, since 1994, Liverpool have won more than twice as many of these meetings as the Foxes, at 17 to eight, and Leicester haven’t won any of their last three games against Liverpool.
In November the champions crushed Leicester 3-0 at Anfield when Liverpool established a new club record of 64 home league games unbeaten as Jonny Evans scored an own goal before Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino gave the Reds a comfortable win to take them joint top of the league table with Spurs.
At that point Manchester City were down in 13th place and eight points behind!
Last season, this fixture resulted in a 4-0 mauling for the Foxes as Firmino scored twice to take the Reds 13 points clear in the 2020 title race.
But recent form makes horrifying reading for Reds fans with their team losing four of the last six in all competitions, while Leicester have lost just once, winning three and drawing two.
Betting Tip
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Leicester City vs Liverpool | 1X2 Draw @ 3.35 |
| February 13, 20:30 (GMT+8) |
The Foxes are at 3.25 to win this game with the Reds at 2.09 and you can make a good case for either. The hosts look in better shape at the moment but Liverpool have proven quality.
While these two teams have become renowned for their attacking prowess, goal returns over the past five league games have been modest, with seven for the Reds and six for the Foxes… so 1-1, at odds of 6.18, is the most likely outcome
And Leicester, Draw no Bet, could be an alternative choice at odds of 2.42.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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