Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool
At the beginning of this season, you wouldn’t have pitched the Premier League meeting between Wolves and Liverpool as a midtable clash but, amazingly, with 10 games left to play that’s pretty much what it is.
Liverpool will start the game in eighth place in the league table, way off the pace and in danger of losing touch with the top four. Head coach Jurgen Klopp knows how important it is for his club to be among Europe’s elite, and they may have to win this season’s Champions League to qualify for the 2021/22 competition.
Meanwhile, Wolves sit in 12th place, safe on 35 points and eight points behind their visitors, who have had much more luck on the road than at home in recent weeks.
Talking Points
Wolves’ missing their spearhead
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves have had a difficult season in many ways; they’re trying to match their seventh-placed finish from the last two campaigns and without their main striker – Raul Jimenez – for much of the season.
Ruben Neves is joint-top scorer with five goals, and Pedro Neto has five goals and five assists, but two key players will be missing for the clash with Liverpool. Daniel Podence is out injured with a groin strain while Jimenez is a long-term absentee.
But there is good news for fans as the Mexican hitman, who suffered a fractured skull during Wolves’ victory over Arsenal in November, is back in light training.
Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Romain Saiss reacts after missing a chance to score against Aston Villa
Wolves have plenty of flair players in their ranks but without Jimenez, they have all too often lacked a cutting edge. Midfield man Romain Saiss will hope to make amends for a glaring miss he made in last week’s goalless draw with Aston Villa and Nuno will back his players to breach a Liverpool rearguard which is without Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Liverpool happy on the road
The sign that reads ‘Welcome to Anfield’ in the players’ tunnel at the Liverpool ground has served as a carefully worded warning to visiting teams for decades.
In fact, the Reds went 68 league games unbeaten at home until Burnley put an end to that in January, and when Chelsea won on Merseyside recently the Londoners looked the better side for long periods of the game.
Defeat to lowly Fulham last week was, astonishingly, Liverpool’s sixth consecutive league loss at Anfield. In that time, they have won three away games and progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so they will be happy to be playing some 100 miles away from home.
The pre-match Premier League 2021 news features a player who left the Black Country for Merseyside in the summer. Klopp will give Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino a late fitness test, but he’s likely to start again with former Wolves ace Diogo Jota.
The Portuguese ace made a brilliant start to his career at Anfield but injury interrupted his season allowing Firmino to keep his place. Although, the Brazilian has missed the last two games with a knee injury.
Liverpool come into the game on the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 win in the Champions League. The Reds looked back to their best as goals from Sadio Mane and Mo Salah saw off a dangerous Red Bull Leipzig.
At the back Klopp may be tempted to start with Ozan Kapak and Nat Phillips to allow the influential Fabinho to play in midfield.
History
Liverpool have won ten of these 15 meetings with Wolves since 2004, while their opponents have managed three victories and two draws.
Last season, Liverpool won both games against Wolverhampton (1-0 at home and 2-1 away), and in December the Reds won 4-0 in a rare game with 2,000 fans in the stadium when Salah started the rout to give the lucky supporters a perfect return.
Wolverhampton haven’t won any of their last four games against Liverpool and the Premier League 2021 betting odds offer a fairly big price on that sequence being broken.
Betting Tip
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Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool | Total Goals 2-3 @ 1.90 |
| March 16, 04:00 (GMT+8) |
The hosts are at 4.47 to win with the draw at 3.30 and Liverpool at SBOTOP odds of 1.77 to take all three points.
Ten of the last 12 games featuring these two teams have featured fewer than 2.50 goals, the only exceptions being Wolves’ 2-1 win away to Southampton and a 4-1 thumping a home to Manchester City.
Under 2.50 goals is available at 1.86 and, interestingly, seven of those 12 games have featured two or three goals; and that’s where I’m heading.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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The post Premier League: Can Liverpool Take Their European Form to Wolverhampton? appeared first on SBOTOP.