Sunderland set to benefit from Liverpool’s goalscoring woes

Brendan Rodgers’ last 10 days will have involved a lot of clock watching. The Liverpool boss has no doubt spent them counting down the minutes until the international break was at an end, such will be his desperation to get back into Premier League action and get his first three points on the board.

The Reds travel to Wearside to take on Martin O’Neill’s well-drilled Sunderland side who are sure to make life hard for Rodgers and Liverpool to pick up the elusive win. In spite of this, they’re priced at 5/4 favourites to achieve it.

Given their torrid start to the campaign and the difficulty a trip to the Stadium of Light entails, this price is distinctly lacking in value. However, recent meetings between these two in the Black Cats’ backyard do offer some appealing prospects for punters.

The past renewals here have all resulted in wins to nil, four for Liverpool and two for Sunderland.

Ladbrokes have the Merseysiders at 5/2 to make it five in seven while the hosts are a mammoth 4/1 to follow up last season’s 1-0 win with another victory without concession.

Liverpool have lacked a goalscorer, amongst other things, in their opening three league games, which makes this is a fantastic price that should not be ignored.

There is also a trend to note in the scorelines of these games.

Liverpool have racked up three 2-0 wins on Wearside and, for those Reds fans whose optimism refuses to waver, you can back them at 10/1 to do the same again this season.

Sunderland have picked up two 1-0 wins in this period and, if they can take the lead in front of their own fans, their disciplined, resolute defensive set up should be able to frustrate the Anfield club and see it out.

Another enticing offer has been put on the table by Ladbrokes regarding this outcome – a hefty 9/1.

The outstanding result in this sequence was a 1-0 Liverpool win in the 2008/09 campaign.

With this being the case, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that none of these games have yielded more than 2.5 goals, nor have both teams managed to score in the same fixture.

For those who fancy this next meeting to keep up appearances, it’s 8/11 to have a game with fewer than 2.5 goals, whereas it’s 1/1 with Ladbrokes for only one team to find the back of the net.

All odds and markets correct as of publication