Bournemouth v Liverpool: Pressure means Reds desperate to win
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When Liverpool finished second in the Premier League under Rafa Benitez in 2009, Bournemouth finished some 83 places below them, narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League.
As the Reds head to Dean Court this week though the gap has been closed to just 11 places, with Liverpool struggling in the Premier League’s middle pack and the Cherries sitting atop the Championship.
As such, the visitors will have their work cut out to overcome the 27/10 underdogs but with recent results not going his way Brendan Rodgers is likely to send out a strong side to ensure the evens on a Reds win proves an accurate price.
The draw can be backed at 3/5 and could tempt, given Bournemouth’s form, but here are three bets offering better value.
This bet requires a raft of stats to be ignored with Eddie Howe’s men losing just one of their last 16 outings and winning 11 times in that run, while Liverpool have been victorious just twice in 10 attempts and have lost six of their last nine away from Anfield.
But with Rodgers under pressure to deliver and the straight win odds not delivering much value the 8/1 on a 2-0 Reds win – the result when Liverpool travelled to Dean Court in last year’s FA Cup – could tempt.
Steven Gerrard is worth considering here at 8/1 but after playing against Manchester United on Sunday the club captain could be spared here.
Sterling also played against United and will be looking to put a nightmare performance behind him by ending his 21-game goal drought.
Despite that barren spell the England man is still outscoring strikers Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert so far.
While the 2-0 Reds win is tipped above Liverpool will have to work hard to contain the highest scoring side in the Football League and should Bournemouth strike again Callum Wilson looks most likely.
Wilson ended his own five-game drought by rounding off the Cherries recent 5-3 win over Cardiff to take his season’s tally to 12 in 23 games.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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