Saturday 31st March 2018
Crystal Palace v Liverpool 12:30
The opening Premier League match this weekend sees Crystal Palace, who are struggling at the foot of the table, entertaining Liverpool at Selhurst Park in a game both sides will need points from – but for very different reasons.
Palace are right in the mix of a relegation battle in 16th place and are only 2 ahead off the drop zone, while Liverpool, who are currently third (63 points) are in the shake-up for a top four finish and with that a money-spinning Champions League place.
The teams played back in August at Anfield with that finishing Liverpool 1-0 Palace, while last season’s repeat fixture finished Palace 2-4 Liverpool.
Palace did have a bit of a purple-patch over Liverpool a few seasons ago but recently it’s the Reds that have held sway. The Reds have won 3 of the last 4 head-to-heads, plus also gained victories in their last three trips to Selhurst Park in all competitions.
In total, the two teams have played 17 times in the Premier League with Liverpool winning 12, Palace 5 and 3 draws.
In fact, these sides simply don’t draw many! With only 1 stalemate in the last 14 then we normally get a result one way, or the another.
The match betting is as follows – Palace 7.00, Draw 4.33, Liverpool 1.44
The scoring markets will be dominated by Liverpool’s Mo Salah, who has scored a massive 28 league goals this season, but with 8 goals in the league and also being Palace’s penalty taker then Milivojevic might be worth a second glance.
With Palace fighting for their Premier League survival then I’m not sure the 1.44 on a Liverpool win is much value, despite them looking the obvious call.
But there are other betting options. A huge10 of the last 11 head-to-heads saw 3+ goals scored but at 1.57 there is not much value here either. So, what about ‘both teams to score’ at 1.70? This bet has rewarded backers in 10 of the last 11 (91%) games between the sides and with home advantage then Palace will have the noisy Selhurst Park crowd behind then and that should be good enough for at least one goal. Oh, don’t forget they managed to score two passed Man Utd just a few weeks ago too.
BEST BET: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE @1.70
==============================================
Saturday 31st March 2018
Crystal Palace v Liverpool 12:30
– Already played this season, Liverpool 1-0 C Palace
– Last season’s repeat fixture ended, Palace 2-4 Liverpool
– Liverpool have won 3 of the last 4 head-to-heads
– Liverpool have won their last 3 games at Selhurst Park (all comps)
– Both teams have scored in 10 of the last 11 head-to-heads
– 10 of the last 11 head-to-heads went OVER 2.5 GOALS
– The last 4 repeat fixtures went OVER 2.5 GOALS
– Met 17 times in the Premier League, Liverpool 9, Draw 3, Palace
– 1 DRAW in the last 14 head-to-heads
– Mo Salah is Liverpool’s top league scorer this season with 28 goals
– Milivojevic is Palace’s top league scorer this season with 8 goals