REDS look right on cue
Liverpool won’t get snookered at Toon
THERE has been a pleasing outbreak of silliness at the world snooker and I am all for it.
On more than one occasion players have got frames wrapped up and then just decided to smash the wrong ball just for a laugh, safe in the knowledge that one foul won’t change the frame.
Then there was Judd Trump distracting the ref so he could move the pink that he had snookered himself behind to get a clear run at the brown... and they say there’s no characters in the game anymore.
Character is exactly what Liverpool have shown to get back in the title race having looked out of it just after Christmas.
Winner
A trip to Newcastle has often been the queue for Liverpool to show their best form and they will need to be close to it this lunchtime as the winning post gets ever nearer.
The last time Newcastle beat Liverpool at home in the league Gini Wijnaldum scored the winner so they will feel they are overdue a victory.
They’ve racked up a good few of those lately and four wins on the trot have brought them into the top half of the table.
That said the bookies give them no chance of winning whatsoever and you can get 7-1 on the in-form Magpies winning this one.
A single slip from Liverpool in their last five games will probably spell the end of their challenge for the title but I think they will have enough to avoid a banana skin here.
I am going to go with correct score bets with Liverpool wins of either 2-0 or 2-1 which are trading around 6-1 and 8-1 respectively.
At the other end of toda y’s action, Manchester City face one of the thr ee away games that will shape their challenge. They go to a Leeds side that is still in a relegation battle despite a decent run of late.
The fact that they are not safe will be of some comfort to Liverpool fans as Leeds will be all out to get something from the game.
For that reason a quid on Leeds at 10-1 would not be the worst bet ever, assuming Liverpool win the pressure will be on City to overtake them again.
Realistically, though, City ought to grind this one out. This game is classic Riyad Mahrez territory — to me he is City’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, you
wouldn’t have him in the first team but he is invaluable to the cause.
At 11-10 Mahrez is a great bet to score at anytime, assuming that he starts the game, which is surely likely given City’s European demands.
Nous
Of the four 3pm matches, I am attracted by two 7-4 shots. Wolves have dropped off a bit lately but they have won 15 games this season and that nous should be enough to see them past Brighton at Molineux.
Watford, meanwhile, look completely shot and Burnley can take advantage of that by winning at Vicarage Road to keep their bid for survival on track.
We’ve got three games tomorrow, all of which are hugely important for various reasons.
Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park is a massive one for the Toffees, who will be desperate to find some form.
Unfortunately, Chelsea’s season is not grinding to a halt, they need to keep it up in the league to make sure of a top four and that will probably do for Everton. Go with the London Blues at 4-5.
After that it’s Tottenham against Leicester and it would be foolish to back against Spurs, especially with the Foxes mostly focused on Europe.
Instead I’ll look at Arsenal’s trip to West Ham. Realistically, a place in the top six is slipping a way now, their focus is on the Europa League title.
The Gunners fancy themselves to get a top-four spot and at 5-6 I think they are actually a bit of value to win a game that they should be fresh for.
It looks like another all-English Champions League final is on the cards, with Liverpool and Manchester City taking leads in to the away legs of their semi-finals with Spanish opposition.
Liverpool are at Villarreal on Tuesday and they should get past this team of Premier League rejects, who have done exceptionally well to get to this stage.
The Evens for Mo Salah to score a goal seems like a sensible bet with the hosts needing to chase the game.
City have the tougher test on the cards as they go to Real Madrid, who will be buoyed by scoring three goals against Pep Guardiola’s men, despite losing.
City also know that defence is probably Real’s weakness. I can see a draw in this one and that is around a 3-1 shot.
On to the Championship, where we had a nice few upsets last week — although it wasn’t exactly great for picking winners.
Dublin’s debut in the Championship is the highlight of this afternoon’s action.
Fancied
They go in against Wexford in the Leinster football quarter-final. They should win comfortably enough despite their League relegation.
I’ll take them to scor e exactly two goals in the game at 11-5.
In tomorrow’s Leinster hurling, Galway host Kilkenny and the Cats are fancied to win.
You can get 10-11 for Brian Cody’s men to win at -1 on the handicap, which looks a good bet to me.