Saturday evening’s televised clash sees the Baggies travel to Anfield and, on first glance, this looks like a straightforward home win. Liverpool are no better than 1/4 (Stan James) for victory, despite losing 2-1 at Tottenham last Saturday and failing to put Atletico Madrid to the sword on Tuesday night. Indeed, only a dubiously-awarded penalty prevented them from their second defeat on the spin.
Nevertheless, the Reds have won four of their five league matches at home this season and this match is likely to mark the return of Fernando Torres from injury. It’s clear that the Spaniard has been badly missed and he’s 100/30 (bet direct) to open the scoring in this match. The bookies are also taking no chances with their ‘score anytime’ prices, going 10/11 (bet direct) about the Spaniard. If you think he’s going to come back with a bang, Skybet have priced the striker up at 16/1 to score a hat-trick.
The Reds are a 4/6 chance (Paddy Power) to lead this match at half-time and full-time, although it could instead be worth backing them to be drawing at the interval before kicking on to win (4/1 Skybet). After all, West Brom recently contained Manchester United at Old Trafford until the second half, and are likely to have plenty of men behind the ball for this game. They’ll take heart from Stoke’s 0-0 draw at Anfield earlier in the season, and it’s 5/1 (bet365) that they nick an unlikely point and a massive 18/1 (Boylesports) that Tony Mowbray masterminds a shock win.
However, despite Ishmael Miller (12/1 William Hill) being on the scoresheet for Albion’s last two matches, this should be a match where Liverpool keep a clean sheet and win by at least a couple of goals. Paddy Power go 8/11 about Rafael Benitez’s men winning to nil, with Stan James offering 7/1 that the Merseyside club win by a 3-0 scoreline.