
A blockbuster clash awaits as leaders Liverpool take on 4th-placed Chelsea at Anfield this Sunday in what is the game of the weekend on paper.
Arne Slot has taken to life as Liverpool manager like a duck to water since succeeding Jurgen Klopp in the summer and his side currently lead the PL by 1 point ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal. Chelsea have also improved under head coach Enzo Maresca and are just 4 points behind The Reds going into this pivotal fixture.
Both sides have lost just once all season and are currently the two form sides in the Premier League. Liverpool have the best defence in the PL after the opening 7 games, conceding just 2 goals. Chelsea, meanwhile, have the joint 5th best defence with 8 goals shipped so far.
With both Liverpool and Chelsea starting the campaign so well, the game does look a tough one to call. The Reds are looking for a 7th win in a row in all competitions ahead of the visit from Maresca’s side, who themselves have made an impressive start to the season.
The West London outfit are unbeaten in the PL since the opening weekend defeat to Manchester City and are chasing a 4th win from their last 5 matches in the league. In the previous 9 meetings between the sides going back to August 2021, 7 of have ended in a draw which once again suggests how tight the game might play out.
Liverpool will be the team on the front foot here as the home side but Maresca would surely snap your hand off now if you offered him a point, that will definitely help shape the way the game looks while scores are level.
It’s worth noting that, for all the fantastic attacking football both sides have produced this term, it is arguably defensively where Liverpool and Chelsea have been most improved under their new managers. With Slot’s side conceding just one goal at Anfield all season and Chelsea only letting two goals in on the road, it is clear both gaffers have made their respective sides even tighter defensively.
Liverpool have 5 clean sheets to their name already from 7 PL matches and Maresca’s men have kept 2 clean sheets out of 3 away from Stamford Bridge so I expect defences to come out on top again when the sides do battle on Sunday.
The Blues have conceded 8 goals in their 7 PL matches, an average of 1.14 per match. Meanwhile, for Liverpool, this statistic is even better with an average of 0.29 goals conceded from their 7 PL fixtures.
Arne Slot has had the best-ever start to a season by any manager in Liverpool’s history, winning 9 of his first 10 matches in all competitions. Only 1=a single defeat at home to Nottingham Forest is a blot on an otherwise perfect copybook.
The Reds have won their last 6 games in all competitions and go into this match-up in excellent form and firing on all cylinders prior to the international break.
Don’t expect Chelsea to roll over though, they have proved to be a tough nut to crack and 1 defeat in 9 is a testament to that. There is an argument that neither team has had a particularly tough start to the season in terms of fixtures but both clubs have negotiated European competition well and hold enviable records to this point.
When it comes to the array of betting markets available for this highly anticipated fixture, I have a lean in the match-winner market and it’s neither side. I think we have a generous price on a draw to be the final result.
At best priced 7/2 with Betfred, this could well be a likely outcome with both sides potentially capable of cancelling each other out and maintaining their unbeaten streaks.
Plus the fact 7 out of the last 9 games between the sides have finished level adds more confidence to the pick. One of the reasons we get such a price is the fact Liverpool have yet to draw a game this season and Chelsea have only drawn 1 but this fixture is unlike most others they’ve played.
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As a bigger play, my attention was drawn to the Total Goals markets. I was pretty shocked to see the expectancy of this game being well over 3 goals.
Under 2.5 goals best priced at 21/10 with BetMGM UK offers real value here. Given 9 out of the last 11 meetings have finished under 2.5 goals, both sides have strong defences so far this term and with each team having 3 out of their 7 PL games ending under 2.5 goals, it fills me with confidence this bet is a very generous price.
As a closing statement, I highlight that The Blues are chasing a 3rd PL clean sheet in a row away from Stamford Bridge and Liverpool have conceded an average of 0.33 goals per game during their 3 fixtures at Anfield so far. So I expect defences to come out on top when the curtain falls on this showpiece clash.
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