However after the Reds shocking couple of games at the hands of Arsenal in the last week, Watford might just think there couldn’t be a better time to play them. Liverpool conceded a massive nine goals in those two games against Arsenal and in being dumped out of the two domestic cup competitions have made it hard for themselves if they want some silverware this season.
Confidence will be low, and Benitez will now have to earn his corn as he has four days to lift his side and show to the footballing world that they can bounce back from won of the worst weeks in their history. Personally I think they have the spirit to do just this and really they could argue that in playing Watford it’s better than having to take on one of the bigger clubs in a bid to restore faith and pride to all involved with the club.
The pair met just before Christmas at Anfield with Rafa Benitez’s side coming out 2-0 to the good with Bellamy and Alonso getting the goals. Visit WWW.EASYODDS.COM for the latest odds.
Due to Watford spending a lot of time in the Championship the sides have only met four times this century, with Liverpool winning all of them. The Hornets did cause a shock in 1999 beating The Reds 1-0 in Merseyside, but overall Liverpool hold a massive advantage in overall league head-to-heads – Liverpool 11 Draw 1 Watford 3.
The betting sees Liverpool as the clear favourites at around 8/15 and at that price it may well tempt in the big players and accumulator punters. The stalemate is around the 3/1 mark while if you fancy a shock home win then Watford can be backed at around 13/2.
Since losing Marlon King at the beginning of the season the Hornets have really struggled to find the net and this is the main reason why they find themselves in real trouble going into the second half of the campaign. The side have only scored three goals in their last nine league games, not the sort of form that you want to be taking into playing a team like Liverpool.
They did however put four by Stockport in the FA Cup last weekend, so manager Adrian Boothroyd will at least be coming into the game being a bit more confident of finding the net. However their league home form makes poor reading P9 W1 D5 L3 and to me the best Watford can home for is that the teams around them at the bottom of the league also fail to win.
Liverpool have been busy of late, seemly playing Arsenal every other day, and after a good run in the league before Christmas they find themselves up to third in the table, but are still eight points off Chelsea and 14 adrift of leaders Man Utd.
After a poor start on the road, Liverpool have turned it around in recent weeks – P11 W3 D2 L6, and although that’s not great reading they have won three of their last four games on the road in the league, with another one looking likely here.
The other quick point to make regarding Liverpool’s current form is their great defensive record in the Premiership. Forget the games against Arsenal as I’m sure you won’t see anything like that again in a hurry. In their last ten league games they have only conceded 1 goal!!!! So the 10/11 on offer for a Liverpool clean sheet is interesting while the 11/8 for a Liverpool win to nil is for the slightly braver.
In the scoring markets with Rafa’s constant tinkering in attach it’s hard to have a confident bet, but with captain Gerrard, who has been on target in 6 of their last 12 games, a certain starter the 5/2 on offer looks tempting for him to score.
The final market, at better odds, that might be worth a look is in the half-time/full-
Recommended Bets
5pts – Liverpool to win
3pts – Liverpool clean sheet
2pts – Half-time Draw/Full-time Liverpool
1pt - Gerrard to score
* All prices correct at time of writing.
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