Sunday sees Chelsea head to Anfield in search of a boost to their title hopes as they, along with everybody else, play catch-up with a rampant Man City side. The hosts Liverpool may feel they are coming into a run of form, and with only a couple of points between the teams everything suggests a close run thing on this occasion.
Jurgen Klopp’s men are the more cavalier of the sides and as a result they score more goals, but Chelsea are not far behind them and much less likely to give anything away at the back.
Across all competitions, the teams have had a very similar run of form, with both winning four out of their last five matches and only losing one. But in the league Chelsea edge it, winning more and drawing less. Both teams played in Europe this week, with Liverpool drawing in Seville on Tuesday and Chelsea enduring a 5,000-mile round journey to Qarabag on Wednesday. With that in mind, William Hill are currently offering odds of 6/5 for Liverpool to win, 5/2 for a draw and 21/10 for Chelsea to take all three points.
Liverpool v Chelsea Betting Tips
In a season in which Man City have set the early pace, questions are already being asked about Chelsea’s ability to retain the title. At this early stage of the race, The Sky Blues are eight points ahead of Man Utd and a full nine beyond Chelsea. To put that in perspective, Scottish league leaders Celtic are currently leading second place Aberdeen by just six. Matches are beginning to mount up and with cup matches, European football and the league, there’s a lot of work to be done between now and Christmas.
Speaking of the imperious league leaders prior to Chelsea’s 4-0 demolition of West Brom on Saturday, Antonio Conte was frank about the requirements on his squad saying, ‘If you want to try to catch them, you have to win every game’.
It might then dishearten Conte to remember that Liverpool v Chelsea is a fixture which frequently results in a draw. In fact, in the last four seasons at least one of the meetings between the two returned a 1-1 scoreline, with every single one of those games being played at Anfield. History would tend to suggest that a share of the points is a very likely scenario. For a 1-1 scoreline William Hill are currently offering odds of 13/2 while 0-0 and 2-2 are both placed at 12/1.
Last six head to head
Liverpool 0 – 1 Chelsea
Chelsea 1 – 2 Liverpool
Liverpool 1 – 1 Chelsea
Chelsea 1 – 3 Liverpool
Chelsea 1 – 1 Liverpool
Chelsea 0 – 0 Liverpool
With neither side giving away a huge number of goals, this fixture is typically returns a low scoreline. In fact, four of the last six matches between the two produced under 2.5 goals. For a similarly tight encounter of under 2.5 goals this time around, William Hill gives odds of 11/10 – a seriously tempting proposition.
Of course, one of the teams could nick it with a 2-1 scoreline, but for under 3.5 goals you’re looking to buy money at odds of only 4/11. Considering the outlay you’d need to put on the game to return decent money at those odds you’re probably better looking for value elsewhere.
For Liverpool to muscle a travel-weary Chelsea team out of the clash with a 2-1 scoreline, odds of 8/1 are offered, and for the result to be reversed in Chelsea’s favour you’ll get 10/1. If that sounds too specific for you, pick the match result and under 2.5 goals to hedge your bets. For under 2.5 and Liverpool to win you’re offered 4/1, for Chelsea it’s 11/2 and for a draw you’ll get 15/4.
Goalscorers
As always, look for goals from Alvaro Morato and Mohamed Salah. Morato has been enjoying himself since leaving Real Madrid in the summer, scoring eight goals in eleven appearances. Salah meanwhile seems to have had a new lease of life since departing London for Liverpool and will have a point to prove against his old side. Goals from midfield could come from Firmino, Coutinho for Liverpool or Alonso and Hazard at the other end with all sitting on three goals apiece.
Match to draw: Although Chelsea have looked the better side this season, their long haul flight to Azerbaijan will not do them any favours at Anfield. By the time Chelsea kick off against Liverpool at 5:30 pm on Sunday they will have spent at least 11 hours in the air in the run-up to the game. For this reason, despite Antonio Conte’s assertion that they need to win every match, a draw would not be the worst result for The Blues.
