England Premier League
Saturday 12th September 2020
Kick off at 5:30pm BST
Venue: Anfield
Match Preview:
Liverpool will start the defence of their league title at home to Leeds United, in a fixture that evokes classic games of the 1970s. Leeds are back in the top flight for the first time since 2004 and despite no fans this should be a cracking game.
There will be so much anticipation and excitment around homes in Leeds as fans tune in to watch their team finally back in the Premier League where they will believe they belong. Manager Marcelo Bielsa has done an outstanding job with the club and he will want to make a real impression this season.
Leeds have brought in 8 new players although the one that really catches the eye is Rodrigo from Valencia who cost the club £26m. In truth he has only had 1 very good season with Valencia from the six he has spent there as a forward but it will be hoped that he can regain his confidence and form in England.
Liverpool of course were outstanding last season winning the league with ease and to be fair it looked over by Christmas. Whilst the Reds did eventually end up losing some games they remained undefeated in the league at home and are going to try and break Chelsea’s record from the 2000s when the Blues went 4 years without a loss.
Dejan Lovren has been sold but apart from that Liverpool’s core team remains the same. They have only bought one player so far Kostas Tsimikas from Olympiacos for just under £12m. He is a direct replacement for Lovren’s departure and comes in as part of the defence.
Jurgen Klopp’s team only played 3 pre-season friendlies but remained unbeaten with their highlight beating Blackpool 7-2. Blackpool had taken a 2 goal lead in that game.
Team News:
Liverpool: New signing Kostas Tsimikas reportedly has Covid-19 so he will certainly miss this game and the rest of the matches for this month. Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain
Leeds: Gaetano Berardi and Adam Forshaw are both out injured for the away side.
Head to Head:
The teams have not met since 2016 when they played in the league cup which Liverpool won 2-0.
They have only met twice in the last 11 years, Liverpool winning both games.
Liverpool have not lost to Leeds at Anfield since 2001.
Prediction:
How will Bielsa set up his team? He is known for attacking football and that may seem foolish against Liverpool, but it could at least be exciting. Liverpool have been in this position last season, same time when they played the newly promoted Norwich, the Canaries played some good football before caving in in the 2nd half and this is how this game could go.
Leeds are a big name and Bielsa is exciting and the Premier League will be better for him being here. However the gulf in class between the clubs is huge and Liverpool basically have a full squad to pick from. They won’t drop many points at home this season, and they should be able to ease to victory here even if they will have to ride the storm through Leeds momentum at times. Liverpool are around 1.25 for the win so backing them offers no value at all so we will look into different markets.
Recommended Betting Tips:
Half Time/full time (Liverpool/Liverpool) at 1.80
Anytime goalscorer: Sadio Mane at 1.91
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
