Another set of matches conclude in the Premier League on Thursday evening when the champions Liverpool react to a set of results so far which has seen them drop to fourth in the table. They host a Burnley side who might be viewing this as a free hit.
Liverpool head into this match six points off the top spot so they will be extremely keen to win this match but the same can be said of Burnley, who have a buffer between them and the bottom three below them but would like to extend that here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels. The programme begins at 7.30pm with the match kicking off at 8pm.
Liverpool
The champions go into this match without a win in their last four matches. While you wouldn’t call this a crisis it is certainly a cause for concern and they would like to get back to winning ways here else the worst way is they will go into the second half of the campaign five points of top spot and level on games. Nobody is saying that the title can’t be won from there but you don’t really want to be chasing with the schedule the way it is from February onwards.
The big problem for Liverpool is actually scoring goals. When Virgil van Dijk and other defenders picked up injuries everyone expected them to start leaking goals. That hasn’t actually happened but the Reds go into this game having scored just once in the four games since they took Crystal Palace to the cleaners, a result which is looking more and more an anomaly with every match they play. They have struggled to break sides down who sit in for a while and will need to find a way to do that here.
Burnley
This hasn’t been a great season for Burnley but we are almost getting used to that being the case. Usually we are used to them being a bit better at this stage of a campaign than they have been as they clearly get better as they go along, but the stop-start nature to this campaign for one reason or another probably hasn’t helped them. They were taken over recently so there will be a pressure to deliver the goods soon if it hasn’t arrived yet.
Burnley’s issue is quite simple, which actually is a positive. They have got nine goals from 17 matches so that is something that needs to change pretty soon if they are going to avoid being deep in a relegation scrap over the second part of the campaign. If they can find some goals then they can relax in terms of the fact that defensively they have got back to where we expect them to be. Whether those goals come from a slightly bolder approach or new personnel remains to be seen.
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Team News
Liverpool’s defensive issues could ease in this match as Joel Matip has returned to full training and is expected to return for this game. That could see Jordan Henderson moving back into midfield which might help their fluency.
Burnley are hoping to have Charlie Taylor back in their squad for the trip to Anfield which would mean that they can go back to naming their regular defence. Jimmy Dunne is likely to miss out with an injury.
Betting
It is a sign of the malaise that Liverpool have dropped into that they go into this match and I’m not completely convinced they will win the game. I expect them to win but I am not sure I trust them to do it. We’ve seen in recent times that they have struggled to break down dogged Fulham and West Brom sides and in truth they never really looked like scoring against Manchester United on Sunday so it will be interesting to see how they deal with Burnley here.
I can’t see Burnley committing too much in terms of men forward or opening up so Liverpool are going to have to find a way to prevail in tight areas in the Burnley box. They might well do it but we’re not seeing much fluency from them so rather than take a bet that relies on Liverpool winning I think the under 3.25 goals is the way to play this. Burnley aren’t going to be that expansive and if they pick something up from a set-piece then so be it. I don’t see Liverpool, without a goal in three Premier League outings, suddenly finding an avalanche of goals so under 3.25 will do me here.
Tips
WON – Back Under 3.25 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
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