Betting: No Euro Blues for Chelsea who look good for a win at the Bridge
Big nights under the lights tend to come midweek when Chelsea meet Liverpool.
Between 2004 and 2009, the pair met 10 times in the Champions League, seeing out some classic encounters.
This season, however, it’s a Friday night where Blues meet Reds, with neither side involved in Europe for the first time since the 1993/94 campaign.
Back then, Neil Shipperley scored a controversial winner in a 1-0 Chelsea win.
This year’s Premier League title will have always been a priority for Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp, but the lack of European football puts added pressure on their domestic results.
With their rivals in continental action this week, both managers will want to seize the opportunity to steal a march on their competitors.
Matches between Chelsea and Liverpool do tend to be feisty encounters, and I see this being another crowd-pleaser.
I’m leaning to a Chelsea victory, priced at 5/4 with Betway, with the Blues imperious at home and Liverpool potentially leaky at the back.
While historically this fixture hasn’t been noted for its goal-scoring, both have been doing it for fun so far.
The signs are pointing towards more than just a single score.
In three of their five competitive matches so far in 2016/17, Liverpool have scored four or more goals.
Chelsea haven’t netted less than two in any fixture yet.
Much of that is owing to the classy form of Diego Costa, who was impressive again against Swansea, notching his third and fourth goals of the season.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are putting them away from all angles.
Their nine league goals have come from five different players – Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane, James Milner and Roberto Firmino.
That collective success makes a goal scorer market tough to predict, so I’ll be leaving that alone.
Instead, I’ll buy total goals at 2.95 with Sporting Index.
POINTERS
Chelsea – 5/4 (Betway)
Buy total goals – 2.95 (Sporting Index)