Liverpool v Swansea Betting Preview
It is go time again for Brendan Rodgers against his former club Swansea in the weekend’s only Premier League match. The two sides are level on points heading into this one so big points at stake in the race to book a top six finish in the league. The Swans have already won at Anfield this season, taking a 3-1 win there in the League Cup. Liverpool have been very guilty of letting games slip through their fingers lately and had a long trip to Russia on Thursday in the Europa League. Will the Swans heap more pressure on the Reds?
Liverpool v Swansea Betting Odds at online bookmaker BetFred
Liverpool 8/15, Draw 3/1, Swansea 24/5
Liverpool v Swansea Recommended Bet:
The Reds were stunned in Europe on Thursday night, as Zenit St Petersburg scored a brace in two second half minutes to take a firm grip of the tie. So therefore the Reds could be going out of Europe very soon and they are now without a win in their last three Premier League matches. The Reds threw away leads against Arsenal and then Man City and last weekend, despite all their dominance in a home game against West Brom, they came out on the losing end 2-0. The same old problem is there for Liverpool, plenty of style through the middle of the park, but just a lack of penetration and conviction up front. Even Luis Suarez, who remains their only attacking force, has been guilty of being very wasteful. Even at home in the Premier League, Liverpool have been vulnerable, losing two of their last five at Anfield.
There has been one win in the last six games now for Liverpool, in that run was a miserable FA Cup exit at Oldham as well. The Reds ahve failed to score against Swansea since the Welsh club was promoted to the Premier League last season. That is three EPL meetings without a goal against Swansea. One worrying stat for Brendan Rodgers is that Liverpool still have yet to beat a top half of the table side this season (D7 L7) and they won’t want to lose ground to the Swans. But Liverpool have not won in their last four matches in all competitions, but their home form in the league of five wins and two defeats in their last seven, should at least see them work for a point. Defensively Liverpool haven’t been bad at Anfield, having conceded at an average of under a goal per game, scoring themselves at a rate of 1.7 per game. Luis Suarez’s seventeen league goals this season will make him their biggest threat, but Daniel Sturridge will likely be up top as well, giving them some extra pace.
Swansea know very well how to frustrate the big sides. They have done it against Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal this season. The Swans have lost just one of their last nine Premier League matches, as well as making their run to the League Cup final. Their form on the road though hasn’t been that strong, having won just one of the last six they have played (D3 L2). Swansea have conceded the fewest amount of goals in the first 30 minutes of matches this season, and they have also dropped the fewest points of all teams when being in the lead. In nine of the ten games in which they have taken the lead in the top flight this term, they have won nine and drawn one. So if they get themselves in front, there could be trouble ahead for Liverpool.
Only Swansea (and newcastle) have scored a higher proportion of goals from open play this season than Liverpool have. The thing about Swansea is that they don’t have too much firepower on the road. They have only scored twelve all season which is an average of less than a goal per away game (in stark contrast to their super home scoring form). Defensively though there is a lot of strength to Michael Laudrup’s line up, as they have conceded at a rate of just 0.7 goals per away game. While Liverpool rely on Suarez, Swansea’s big threat of course is Spanish star Muchu, who has netted fifteen league goals for the season. The Swans have done it before and could well be in line to frustrate the Anfield crowd again.
A draw is going to be worth looking at given the history between these two. They’ll probably be fairly well matched up against each other. Naturally going to be value in looking at Suarez as First Goalscorer for odds of 3/1 at online bookmaker BetFred
Form
Liverpool WLDDLL, Swansea LWDDLW
Stat Attack
The Reds still haven’t beaten a side from the top half of the table this season
Liverpool have not scored in three previous EPL meetings with Swansea
Swansea have dropped the fewest points from leading positions this term
Swansea have scored the highest percentage of goals from open play in this season’s EPL
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