Football Betting: Live On Skysports 1 & 2: Sun 16.00 & Mon 20.00: Liverpool head to Birmingham on Sunday and Stoke meet Aston Villa on Monday. Compare Premier League odds.
Alex McLeish’s Birmingham remain unbeaten but ahead of this afternoon’s Premiership encounter at St Andrews, it’s visitors Liverpool that are Betdaq’s 7/5 favourites to get the better of City, who are William Hill’s 23/10 outsiders. However, at an identical price to that offered for a home win, it’s Ladbrokes’ draw quote that catches the eye in what looks set to be a tight affair.
The pair’s last four meetings have ended in stalemate and a repeat of the 1-1 scoreline from April’s encounter is worth considering at 11/2 with Partybets, while 888Sport offer 9/2 for the contest to be level at the end of each half and Totesport post 8/5 against the match being goalless at the interval.
Fernando Torres is the man bookies expect to break the deadlock; Betfred making the Spaniard 9/2 to notch first but a couple of appealing longer-priced options are Reds skipper Steven Gerrard and Blues new boy Alexander Hleb at 8/1 and 16/1 respectively, courtesy of Victor Chandler.
A robust Stoke outfit would have stood out at 6/4 (Paddy Power) ahead of Monday’s home clash with Aston Villa (19/10, Jaxx.com) but in another contest where there doesn’t seem to be much in it, the appointment of Gerard Houllier as manager at Villa Park should give the Villa players a lift and the Frenchman can emerge with a point from his first game in charge; a result bet365 quote at 9/4.
Stan James offer 11/2 for the match to finish one-each and for the truly ambitious, Victor Chandler quote better than 40/1 for both the match at Birmingham and this fixture to end 1-1. Meanwhile back at the Britannia Stadium, John Carew’s bulk could prove crucial for Villa in attack and he’s 8/1 with Betfred to notch first.
