Liverpool v Anzhi: Hiddink’s men to overpower Anfield young guns

Anzhi head to Liverpool on the back of five straight wins at home and abroad. This has propelled them to the top of both the Russian Premier League, as well as Europa League Group A.

This makes the 11/5 for them to knock over a stuttering Reds team extremely good value, as the Anfield club’s concerns are far more pressing than the Europa League.

They’ve used the competition to field fringe players and youth prospects to date, while Anzhi have sent out strong sides, with the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Lassana Diarra and Chris Samba all prominent.

Cameroonian legend Eto’o has notched four goals in his last four games, including a brace as Guus Hiddink’s men overcame Young Boys 2-0 in their last Group A clash.

The former Barcelona man is a big price at 11/2 to open the scoring, with 4/1 favourite Luis Suarez likely to start the game on the bench as Brendan Rodgers will have one eye on the upcoming Merseyside derby.

Jonjo Shelvey is the joint-top scorer in the group-stage of this competition and, fitness permitting, is a guaranteed starter here. He’s 9/1 to build on his three-goal tally by scoring first or last, feats he’s achieved in both previous Europa League matches, whereas he’s an 11/4 shot to net any time.

In the prestigious history of the Anfield club, they have never once lost two successive home matches in continental action.

After dominating the first-half of their previous game, Udinese turned a 1-0 half-time deficit around to win the game 3-2. 12/1 says they’ll end up on the losing side from a winning position here, while a lofty price of 25/1 is available for them to lead at the break, but lose at full-time.

With all the momentum with the Russians ahead of this game, it’s clear that Liverpool will need to raise their game in order to prevent yet another hole being poked in their proud heritage.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date