12 Jun 2019
A match of great expectations
Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off in the Premier League sees two teams come together, both with pressure and expectation heaped upon them. Managers Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp are expected to deliver silverware for the season to be deemed a success by the respective fans, club boards and players. Here we look at what could be the deciding factors.
Money talks
In this day and age, Tottenham Hotspur’s Chairman, Daniel Levy, and Pochettino took the unprecedented measure not to spend any money in the most recent transfer window. However, Pochettino has certainly received the financial backing to secure his squad, with star players receiving improved contracts and wages. Pochettino, now in his fifth season, has had the time and patience of the Spurs faithful to prepare a team ready to win silverware.
In contrast, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool was one of the big spenders this summer, forking out £177m on key players. The signings of goalkeeper Alisson Becker, midfielder Fabinho and Naby Keita in central midfield certainly address Liverpool’s weaknesses that have led to the club falling short of the mark since Klopp joined in 2015.
Golden Boot
Expectations also extend to the clubs’ star strikers. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah narrowly pipped the FIFA World Cup 2018 Golden Boot winner, Harry Kane, to last season’s Premier League Golden Boot award with 32 to 30 goals respectively. This season both players are slightly below par, each with two goals and one assist. However, this season sees another of Liverpool’s star players, Sadio Mane, leading the charge with four goals to date, so if you fancy placing football betting odds on the first to score, Mane at 6/1 is a tasty proposition.
If you’re looking to back a home team player, then look no further than Lucas Moura to put in the same performance as he did against Manchester United this month and score a brace. Odds of Moura to score two or more goals at 14/1 is a good option.
Home advantage?
Saturday’s game was meant to be a big moment in the history of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club with the unveiling of the new stadium. Much has been said about the delays and likely move in date, but the lunchtime kick off will once again be back at Wembley. Wembley does provide some good memories for Spurs, and particularly against Liverpool, where the Reds fell to only one of five losses last season. Tottenham Hotspur emphatically beat Liverpool 4-1 with Kane scoring a brace, plus goals from Son Heung-min and Dele. Premier League betting odds for Tottenham to repeat the score of 4-1 are at 50-1.
In-form
Finally, if form is anything to go by then Liverpool’s impeccable start of four wins out of four may put them as front runners in the fixture, especially after Tottenham’s slip up in the last game from a winning position away to Watford. If you want to hedge your bets, however, then odds of a draw are interesting at 5/2.
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