TAKE SALAH TO SET THE TABLE
TOMORROW’S match at Anfield between Liverpool and champions Manchester City is far from a title decider.
In fact the likelihood is that this will be a battle between second and third in the table.
If Manchester City fail to win on Merseyside tomorrow it will confirm that we are in a threeway title race.
I can’t remember one like that since the very first Premier League in 1992-93 – though Manchester United did end up winning that by 10 points.
This game will tell us a lot about Liverpool.
Injuries
Beset by injuries they might find that those enforced breaks will help them on the run-in.
As may the fact that they are in secondary European action while City and Arsenal are in the Champions League.
The bookies make City favourites but at 5-4 they are a backable 2-1, with plenty lining up to take the draw which is available up to 29-10.
I don’t think form is relevant here, but I believe Liverpool are far better placed to cause City problems than United were last week – and the Red Devils caused plenty themselves in the early running.
Liverpool are in just as good form as City in my opinion – both of them are racking up the wins and with home advantage Jurgen Klopp’s men can win this one at that very juicy 2-1.
Mo Salah had a nice 20-minute run out in Prague on Thursday night and he is 6-1 to score the first goal tomorrow. I’ll have some of that.
Tomorrow’s early game is a fascinating Champions League battle as Spurs travel to Birmingham to face Aston Villa.
Villa can be thrilled with their season, but now that they have got this far, they will surely want to go all the way and grab a spot in Europe’s big competition.
Spurs, though, are another side to exceed expectations, and with no Europe to worry about – or any other competitions for that matter – I am going to give them the nod here.
At 8-5 Spurs are a very fair price and although Villa are in excellent order, I expect the points to go south.
Arsenal should be top by this evening, after they host Brentford at the Emirates.
David Raya cannot play against his parent club, so Aaron Ramsdale will be in goal for Arsenal. That should be no problem, however, and I know Gooners who think Raya is a liability.
Brentford are a solid unit and while they can’t match the overall class of Arsenal, they can pose a few problems. I will go with correct scores in this one of 2-0 and 2-1 in favour of the home side, which
‘Arsenal should be top by this evening’
can be got at 13-2 and 10-1 respectively.
Things are hotting up in Scotland, or should that be cooling off, as neither Rangers nor Celtic are in good form but the Scottish Cup this weekend can give them some respite from a tense league battle.
Both sides are in action tomorrow, with Celtic first up at home to Livingston. Livi are in a bit of a mess off the field and will do well to stay up.
Patch
This is the worst draw of any in the quarter-final and even their hope on capitalising on Celtic’s rough patch must be slim.
I’ll go with wins of 5-0 and 5-1 at Celtic Park for Brendan Rodgers’ (pictured) side and that is available at 11-1 and 20-1 respectively.
Rangers have the much tougher ask, going to Edinburgh for a meeting with Hibernian.
The Gers won the League Cup earlier in the season, but I think they might well get turned over here and at a whopping 6-1 I am going for a shock at Easter Road.
It’s been a long time since a trip to Twickenham has been something to fear for an Ireland rugby team and there is no reason for that to change this afternoon.
In fact the aura of Twickenham seems to be England’s main weapon as the Six Nations leaders come to visit – it certainly isn’t the quality of their play. Beaten by Scotland, they should probably have lost to both Italy and Wales as well and they are no-hopers here you would have to believe.
That they are as short as 17-4 is basically due to the fact that people in England like betting I’d say. There is nothing to suggest that England can suddenly put a bonus-point scoring display of attacking rugby. At this stage you are surprised if Ireland don’t get four tries in a Six Nations game.
I’ll have a bit of fun, you can get 25-1 on a handicap draw with England getting a start of 12 points – I can see Ireland winning by a dozen.
James Lowe is not everyone’s cup of tea but he is important to Ireland for his kicking and finishing and he can get a try this afternoon – he is 7-5 to touch down at any time.
Interest
Earlier Scotland go to Italy, with the away side heavily fancied in this one too.
Yet the Azzurri are improving fast and at 17-4 are worth an interest bet.
Tomorrow, France travel to Wales knowing they have scraped by in their last two games.
I am holding firm in my belief, though, that Wales are weak. Go with France at -6 on the handicap at 10-11.