Live on Skysports 1: Sun 13.30 & 16.00: Torres is back to haunt Liverpool in Chelsea colours and West Ham face Birmingham
You couldn’t make it up. Less than a week after Chelsea broke the bank to prise Fernando Torres from Liverpool the Spanish striker could come face-to-face with his former club as the two sides meet in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. As the transfer didn’t go through in time for Torres to be eligible to face Sunderland on Tuesday, the clash with Kenny Dalglish’s side will actually be his Blues debut and the £50 million man is 6/5 with bet365 to begin to repay his astronomical fee by getting on the scoresheet.
Aided by home advantage, Carlo Ancelotti’s men are Betfred’s odds-on favourites at 8/13 while Liverpool are 6.0 (5/1) at Betdaq to make Torres’ Blues bow an unhappy one and bet365 post 3/1 against the Reds grabbing a share of the spoils.
A glance at Liverpool’s away record, which shows eight defeats in twelve, suggests that Chelsea are a home banker and although Dalglish’s charges won their last match on the road, here they will have to do without their main goal threat, Torres, who struck twice in that victory at Wolves.
A home triumph ‘to nil’ isn’t without appeal then at 13/8 (Coral), especially as Ancelotti’s defence gives little away at Stamford Bridge and bearing that in mind, Ladbrokes’ 6/1 for Chelsea to grab the only goal is worth considering.
Sunday’s other game involves resurgent West Ham face Birmingham and the Hammers are just 11/10 with Betfred to pick up all 3 points.
Birmingham, 14/5 with , were reasonably tidy at times against Man City in midweek and will come to cause problems. Zigic was lively and can get on the scoresheet at 5/2 with Ladbrokes, a great price.
Grant has picked up a few good signings througout January but they are not out of the mire yet; the price is quite short. Robbie Keane and Victor Obinna are certainly threats and both teams to score looks good at 5/6 with Skybet.
Recommended Bets:
Fernando Torres to score at any time – 6/5 (bet365)
Both teams to score, West Ham v Birmingham – 5/6 (Skybet)
Nikola Zigic to score anytime – 5/2 (Ladbrokes)
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