Sunday Premier League betting preview
Manchester United v Liverpool, 1.30pm
During the 2006/7 and 2007/8 season, the Red Devils enjoyed four wins against their north-west rivals, although they have lost the last three encounters between the two sides. Last season’s 4-1 at Old Trafford was especially humiliating and Sir Alex Ferguson will be out for some kind of revenge on Sunday afternoon. It appears that United are going to be all the rage, with the champions no bigger than 8/11 (Paddy Power – Bet £10 Get £20 Free Bets) at the time of writing.
It’s hard to see anything other than a home victory, despite Liverpool’s two key attacking players looking sharp against Lille on Thursday. Fernando Torres has caused Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic problems with his pace in previous matches and the Spaniard is 13/2 (Blue Square Bookmakers) to break the deadlock and send thousands of visiting supporters into ecstasy. However, much depends on whether the likes of Steven Gerrard (9/1 bet365 – £200 Free Bets) can provide him with the service he needs.
One player who only seems to need half a chance right now is Wayne Rooney and the England striker is no bigger than 10/3 (Coral Bookmakers – £10 Free Bet) to set United on their way to a likely victory. It will be interesting to see whether Sir Alex Ferguson plays Dimitar Berbatov (6/1 Paddy Power Bookmaker – £20 Free Bet) alongside him or pack out the midfield instead. A comfortable home win certainly seems to be on the cards and it might be worth covering correct score wagers of 2-0 (13/2 Sporting Bet Bookmakers) and 3-0 (14/1 888sport – £50 Free Bet).
Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea, 4pm
Carlo Ancelotti will want an immediate reaction from his team following their Champions League exit on Tuesday, although they lost 4-2 at home to Manchester City a few days after the first leg at the San Siro. Therefore, Blackburn might be overpriced at 7/1 (Ladbrokes Bookmakers – £25 Free Bet) to inflict more misery on the Blues, especially as they knocked Chelsea out of the Carling Cup. With Petr Cech still likely to be missing, the home side will fancy their chances of scoring and Nikola Kalinic (12/1 Bet Fred Bookies – £50 Free Bet) will be leading the line.
Rovers will also have their first-choice goalkeeper missing in Paul Robinson, with Jason Brown having to be on his guard to keep the likes of Didier Drogba (7/2 Bet Fred Bookmakers) and Nicolas Anelka (5/1 Blue Square Bookmaker). The latter may have been the Premier League’s top goalscorer this season, although he’s struggling for form right now and manager Carlo Ancelotti may opt to play Frank Lampard (6/1 Paddy Power) in an advanced position.
Sky Bet are the only bookies that are prepared to offer 1/2 about an away victory, although Chelsea have only won half of their fourteen away matches and seem vulnerable at the moment. Perhaps the value option is to back Blackburn and the draw on Boylesports’ Double Chance market. Odds of 7/4 make appeal with Sam Allardyce wanting to help his old friend Sir Alex Ferguson out.
