Liverpool v Middlesbrough Betting Tips: 2 AH+2.75, 2017-05-21

Liverpool may well win, but Middlesbrough to bow out with a fight

Jurgen Klopp
Juergen Klopp © GEPA pictures

LIVERPOOL v MIDDLESBROUGH

Sunday 21st May 2017 – Kickoff: 1500hrs

Football – England – Premier League Betting Tips

The last game of the season at Anfield sees hosts, Liverpool, taking on relegated Middlesbrough with the incentive of Champions League football at stake as The Reds look to overhaul Manchester City into the automatic spot.

Liverpool will also have one eye on Arsenal who are just one point behind them and also hold home advantage when they take on Liverpool’s merseyside rivals, Everton at The Emirates. There’s still plenty to play for then, in this final match of the season, and Liverpool head into this encounter in pretty solid form having lost just once in their last 11 league matches overall.

But – history has taught us never to trust Liverpool when in seemingly winning positions, as time and time again, they’ve flattered to deceive and have ultimately failed when the pressure is on. Overall, Liverpool possess a good home record of  11-5-2  42/18, but take their last three matches at Anfield for example; a 2-2 draw with mid-table Bournemouth, a 2-1 defeat to 13th placed Crystal Palace, and could only manage a 0-0 draw with eighth placed Southampton (despite spending over 90 million pounds on former Saints players!)

Onto visitors Middlesbrough, and they will bow out of the Premier League this afternoon in this, their final match of their disappointing campaign in the top flight which ended in relegation a few weeks ago.

After a seven year absence from the Premier League, Boro made a promising start which saw them unbeaten in their first three matches of the season (draws with Stoke City and Middlesbrough were either side of a 2-1 win at north east rivals Sunderland), but a string of poor results ended in former manager Karanka’s sacking, despite the Spaniard achieving promotion for Boro from the Championship (no smug expressions please, Burnley).

Their away record admittedly stands at a poor  1-7-10  10/27, but dig deeper and you’ll find they’ve been beaten by two goals or more on just five occasions from their 18 away matches to date. And of the top half teams they’ve played on the road to date, only Chelsea (3-0) have won by a larger margin than two goals – hence my pick today.

Pick: Middlesbrough AH+2.75 @ 1.70 Bet Victor