Man U vs. Liverpool: Betting Angles for High-Stakes Match at Old Trafford
Having correctly called both a Real Madrid win and Cristiano Ronaldo to score in midweek, I’m delving into another top match this weekend in which real value can be found.
Saturday’s early kick-off (7:30 am ET) between Manchester United (+175) and Liverpool (+180) is not just a battle to be the best of the rest behind Manchester City in the Premier League. It's also bragging rights in one of English football’s fiercest rivalries. The stakes are high: Liverpool can climb into the top two for the first time this season with a victory at Old Trafford.
Jurgen Klopp (pictured above) and his men are certainly the stronger side of late, even if there has been little between the sides in terms of points earned since the turn of the year. Meanwhile, United have had to come from behind to win their past two games. The good news for the Red Devils is that Romelu Lukaku has rediscovered some form, but it’s goalkeeper David De Gea who could, once again, be Jose Mourinho’s most important player in this one.
The Spaniard has proven to be the man for the big occasion in the past, not least against Liverpool, and he’ll likely need to be at his best once again. That’s not only because of the fearsome front three that the visitors possess, but due to the approach that his manager is likely to adopt.
Mourinho never needs an excuse to deploy a deep block in matches such as these, but he has one in this particular fixture. Indeed, with a crucial Champions League second leg against Sevilla on Tuesday, this huge game hasn’t come at a good time.
Mourinho would no doubt be happy with a point that would keep Liverpool two points back, and the chances of him playing for one seem high.
As such, the odds from Marathon Bet on the Red Devils to score under 1.5 goals at 1.63 (-159) represent value, and a price of 3.90 (+290) from the same bookmaker on United to fail to score altogether is also worth considering. While Liverpool have had their well-documented defensive issues for some time, goalkeeper Loris Karius’ confidence has certainly built up after five clean sheets in his past seven appearances.
With that in mind, the fact that the bookies are struggling to separate these two in the outright winner market offers a tempting price on an away win. As high as 2.80 (+180) with multiple companies, Liverpool look well-placed to leapfrog their rivals this weekend, exploiting the unavoidable distraction of Europe that Mourinho’s men will have to contend with.
Given that Liverpool didn’t really have to get out of second gear in midweek against Porto, earning that right after a convincing win in the first leg last month, fatigue shouldn’t really be an issue for Klopp's charges. Moreover, they were able to rest center back Virgil van Dijk and, crucially, Mohamed Salah — from kick-off at least — and the Egyptian has his eyes on a prize of his own.
Few would have predicted that the former Chelsea winger would be in the race for the Golden Boot after all, but the 25-year-old has been in contention all season, owing to his frankly remarkable consistency. With that in mind, I’m going for a similar bet to the one that copped in Paris on Tuesday night, opting for an away win, with the visitors’ top scorer to get on the scoresheet once more.
Salah has scored in his past seven consecutive starts, and having come off the bench late on in the week without success, he’ll be looking to avoid two successive appearances without a goal for the first time since way back in mid-October — a quite remarkable run. He’s 2.88 (+188) to score at any time this weekend with Unibet, which is incredibly appealing in itself, but using the Bet Builder tool from bet365 you can get odds of 4.33 (+333) on that occurrence coupled with a Liverpool win.
All odds current as of Thursday afternoon.
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