Southampton And Liverpool Clash In To Half Battle

Southampton could reclaim their Champions League position with a mere draw at home to Liverpool at St. Mary`s this afternoon. Ronald Koeman`s men fell out of the top four following Arsenal`s win over Crystal Palace yesterday though a victory could see them rise to as high as third following Manchester United`s loss at Swansea on Saturday.

A defeat, on the other hand, would see them remain in fifth and see Liverpool close the gap on the Hampshire club to a point. A win for the Merseyside club could also see them usurp Tottenham should Spurs fail to beat West Ham United at home.

Brendan Rodgers` side will be looking to do the Premier League double over the Saints following the Reds` 2-1 victory on the opening day of the season.

Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock in the opening 25 minutes, scoring the only goal of the first 45. Nathaniel Clyne levelled things up for Southampton just 10 minutes after the restart before Daniel Sturridge made sure the Saints left the North West empty handed with a goal 10 minutes prior to the full-time whistle.

Despite having already seen off Southampton this season, it is the home side who are the favourites to scoop all three points from this match-up and strengthen their Champions League credentials. Koeman`s men can be backed for the win at 13/8 with bet365 and betfred.

Whilst both Coral and ladbrokes are offering a draw at odds of 2/1, Liverpool can be picked up at 12/5 with a trio of bookmakers (betfred, boylesports, Totesport). Should you think that Rodgers` men can record their second 2-1 victory of the campaign over the fifth placed side, you can pick up odds of 11/1 with bet365, betfred, Coral and william hill. It is 17/20 (betfair, betway) on both teams scoring once again.

Liverpool will take confidence from the fact that their opponents` home record in the Premier League has dipped somewhat in their last couple of matches. The Saints had previously been unbeaten in three games with wins over Everton and Arsenal and a draw with Chelsea but have picked up only one point in their last two games at St. Mary`s in the top tier.

A 1-0 defeat at Swansea and a goalless draw with West Ham also means that the Saints have gone 180 minutes without scoring a goal in Premier League matches at St. Mary`s. Liverpool are 5/2 with Spreadex to keep a clean sheet in today`s 16:15 kick-off or can be backed at 39/10 (888sport, unibet) to win to nil.

Sadio Mane hit the back of the net against both Arsenal and Chelsea and is the club`s top scorer in their last five Premier League home games. The Senegalese international is 11/4 (32red, 888sport, Bwin, unibet) to score at any time against Liverpool this afternoon.

In contrast, the visitors have a fine recent away record with three wins to nil and a draw following their disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United back in December. This must reaffirm confidence in the Reds keeping a clean sheet/ winning to nil (see above for odds).

Liverpool, contrarily, have scored just four goals in these five games, the equivalent of only one a game. Betvictor are offering odds of 2/5 on Rodgers` men grabbing over 0.5 goals against Southampton whilst they are also 17/10 with the same bookmaker to hit the back of the net exactly once.

Four different players were responsible for each of Liverpool`s goals though the favourite to score for the Reds at any time today is Sturridge, who is available at 11/5 (32red, 888sport, unibet).

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22/02/2015     © Frixo 2024