EPL Odds: Liverpool, United All Set For North-West Derby
Manchester United (+120) vs. Liverpool (+265), Draw (+250)
The biggest rivalry in English football takes place next Sunday, January 15th, when Liverpool (13-5-2, 45 points) travels to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United (11-6-3, 39 points) in the 21st round of the English Premier League.
Liverpool was expected to pick up an easy win when they faced 18th-place Sunderland in the last round. With Chelsea six points ahead of them in the standings, they couldn’t afford to drop anymore easy points. But they gave up a 2-1 lead, allowing Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe to score the equalizer in the 84th minute. That left them with only one point, giving Chelsea the chance to further extend their lead.
But Chelsea was outclassed in their game against Tottenham and suffered a 2-0 defeat, narrowing their lead against Liverpool to just one point. Liverpool will have a shot at closing the gap once again when the two teams face off in a couple weeks’ time, but in the meantime they need to focus on overcoming a dangerous United side.
Manchester United have won their last six consecutive Premier League games and have gone undefeated in their last eleven. Their hopes of claiming the title is virtually nonexistent though due to a rocky start to the season, but they still have a Champions League or Europa spot to play for.
United had a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham in the last round, partly due to their current form and the fact West Ham were playing with 10 men for the majority of the game after Sofiane Feghouli was red-carded.
The match will pit two teams that are currently in top form against each other. United will not have to worry about international competitions until February and both teams will have an easy time this weekend at the F.A Cup. That means Liverpool and United will be able to throw their full weight into the upcoming North-West Derby.
The bookmakers are heavily favoring Man U, probably because of their current form and home advantage. But Liverpool have been consistent both at home and away this season, and despite a disappointing draw in the last round, they have not looked this good since they lost Luis Suarez.
Pick: Liverpool (+265)
Photo credit: “Rooney: è record con la nazionale!” by Nationale Calcio, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
