Liverpool can go one step closer to sealing the Premier League with victory over Crystal Palace at Anfield this evening.
The Merseysiders were storming their way to their first league title in 30 years after winning 27 of their opening 29 games before football was suspended back in March due to the global pandemic.
Premier League action has now resumed and Liverpool returned with a drab 0-0 draw with Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon. The result leaves the Reds sitting 20 points clear at the top of the table after Manchester City beat Burnley 5-0 on Monday night.
The situation is clear; Liverpool need to secure five points from their last eight games to wrap-up the title so they’ll take a huge step towards meeting that target if they beat Crystal Palace this evening.
The Eagles head to Anfield off the back of an impressive win at Bournemouth that lifted them up to ninth in the table so Roy Hodgson will be looking to secure a positive result against his former side to boost their hopes of making a late push for a Europa League place.
Betting tips
Liverpool are the 1/4 favourites to collect all three points tonight and the magazine GamblingTimes has details of top bookmakers where you can place your bet if you want to back the Reds. Palace are priced at 13/1 to pull off a shock at Anfield while you can bet on the draw at odds of 5/1.
Betting on Liverpool seems like a ‘banker’ but there isn’t much value at 1/4 so we can back the hosts on the Asian handicap at odds of 4/5 to start with -1 goals. Liverpool should be more than confident of beating Palace by two clear goals to win that bet.
Alternatively, we also like the look of Mohamed Salah to open the scoring at 11/4. If we combine Salah as first goalscorer in a 3-0 Liverpool win we get excellent odds of 30/1.
Team news
Salah wasn’t risked at Everton due to a minor knock but he’s been passed fit to return to the starting line-up tonight. Takumi Minamino started in place of the Egyptian international on Sunday so he’s set to drop to the bench against Palace.
Liverpool should also welcome Andy Robertson back into the squad after he failed to make the trip to Goodison Park. Robertson could replace James Milner at left-back after he suffered a hamstring injury at the weekend.
Klopp will also be without Joel Matip after he picked up a toe injury during a clash with Richarlison while Xherdan Shaqiri remains out with a calf injury that hampered him for months.
Liverpool are set to welcome Mohamed Salah back into the starting eleven after he wasn’t risked against Everton at the weekend. Takumi Minamino is the man set to make way for the Egyptian international.
The visitors head to Anfield with a relatively healthy squad to choose from. James Tomkins, Jeff Schlupp and Martin Kelly are the only absentees for Hodgson’s side.
Predicted score
Liverpool have only won two of their last seven games in all competitions but at Anfield they have been faultless in the Premier League as they’ve won each of their last 22 games and haven’t tasted defeat in over three years – a run stretching 55 games.
Coincidentally, Palace were the last team to beat Liverpool in the league at Anfield and they head into tonight’s game in good form so they might be quietly confident of pulling off a shock. However, this is a great opportunity for Liverpool to put one hand on the title and I don’t see them passing it up.
Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace
