Saturday Premier League – Liverpool vs Swansea City

Preview

January 21, 2017 12:30pm

Anfield

Recent Form (League):

Liverpool: DDWWW

Swansea City: LWLLL

Despite drawing their last two Premier League matches, Liverpool are still level on points with second-ranked Tottenham Hotspur, and just seven points adrift of league leaders Chelsea. This weekend, they will be defending a 17-game unbeaten home record, when they welcome rock-bottom Swansea City to Anfield.

Despite their recent dip in form, the Reds can still be considered as title contenders. They have lost just one of their last 19 games in the league and will host the league leaders on Merseyside in 10 days’ time. As a result, this could be classed as a must-win game for the 18-time former league champions.

Jurgen Klopp’s men have not lost a league match at Anfield in over a year, so avoiding defeat should not be a problem. They come into this game on the back of a narrow 1-0 FA Cup win over Plymouth Argyle, in which they once again fielded several fringe players.

Marko Grujic and Danny Ings are both expected to miss out through injury, while Sadio Mane and Joel Matip are away on international duty.

Meanwhile, opponents Swansea City may be rooted to the bottom of the table but they remain just one point adrift of 17th-ranked Crystal Palace. They began life under new boss Paul Clement with a disappointing 4-0 defeat at home to Arsenal, having previously won 2-1 away to Crystal Palace under caretaker coach, Alan Curtis.

With things so tight at the bottom, Clement will have a great chance to make his mark in top flight management by guiding the Swans to safety. However, as Francesco Guidolin found out last season, even that might be enough to please the Welsh club’s hierarchy.

The visitors will have to make do without the injured trio of Modou Barrow, Neil Taylor and Jefferson Montero.

Prediction

Liverpool will look to take advantage of the dodging Swansea back line, so a decent goal count can be expected this weekend.

In the league, Over 2.5 Goals has paid out in 67% of the Red’s home games and in 70% of their opponent’s away games.

You can back Liverpool/Over2.5 Goals at 11/20 with Betfair.