Liverpool vs Chelsea Betting Tips

This weekend makes for a mouthwatering prospect for football fans. Arsenal entertain their unbeaten record at the Emirates against Premiership champions-elect Man Utd on Sunday, but firstly, on Saturday, reigning champs Chelsea visit Anfield to tackle Liverpool. Speculation continues to mount over whether Jose Mourinho will still be in charge at Chelsea next season, and one has to wonder whether this will have a detrimental affect on team moral. Indeed, Mourinho's relationship with club owner Roman Abramovich is said to be at breaking point. It is purported that the situation is such that they are not on speaking terms at and that the Russian oil magnate will not be attending Saturday's match. Before the current media frenzy surrounding the Mourinho-Abramovich saga commenced, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez was under the spotlight. Following two hammerings at the hands of Arsenal in the FA Cup and the Carling Cup respectively, the Spaniard's team selections and tactics were called into question. Many believe that Rafa's approach is suited to European competitions, but not on the domestic front, particularly in the Premiership itself. On the plus side, Pool haven't been beaten in 11 home matches in the league so far this season, and they hadn't tasted defeat at Anfield full stop during the current campaign prior to their dismal back-to-back displays against the Gunners. On the downside, the Reds have a poor record against the other three sides that make up the 'big four' which, of course, includes Chelsea. In fact, Liverpool have failed to gain a solitary point from their last five Premiership encounters with Chelsea. Luis Garcia and Mark Gonzalez have recently joined Mohamed Sissoko, Bolo Zenden and Harry Kewell on the Merseyside club's easy list, while the Blues welcome back first choice keeper Petr Cech, but talismanic defender John Terry is still recovering from injury and Joe Cole probably has a fair way to go before reaching peak fitness. But, despite these absentees, both sides have the requisite strength in depth to patch over those cracks. The outcome of this match is extremely hard to predict, because much depends on the state of mind with which both approach this fixture. Although Liverpool and Chelsea have been making the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent weeks, both go into this match on the back of resounding victories last weekend; Pool winning by three goals to nil away to Watford and Chelsea hammered Wigan 4-0 at Stamford Bridge. While Chelsea haven't incurred any crushing defeats akin to those which Pool have suffered recently, they have recently been dropping points against teams that you would expect them to be brushing aside. Usually I would expect a fixture of this nature to be tight and, therefore, to produce little in the way of goals. However, Liverpool's defence has looked shaky of late and, without skipper John Terry at the heart of their defence, the south west London side look vulnerable at the back. Mourinho will be hoping that the return of Cech between the posts will help restore cohesion within their defensive ranks. If the Czech Republic keeper's presence works the oracle, then the visitors will probably win this game and reduce Man Utd's lead to three points, if only for 24 hours. That said, I am not willing to stick my neck out and recommend a bet which is based on either side winning or not, because this is simply too tricky. But I feel confident in predicting that there will be goals, and quite a few of them. The Reds generally score just over 2 per game, while Chelsea average 1.5 per match on the road. With so much at stake when they lock horns on Saturday - pride being at the top of the list - I can imagine that this will be a fiercely competitive affair. With these sides so closely matched in the match result market - both are priced up at around the 6/4 mark - there are some value bets to be had. But while odds of 5/4 may not be something to salivate over, this price about 3+ in the total goals market, which is offered by Stan James, looks pretty good to me. Indeed, I will be most surprised if this game fails to deliver at least three goals, so this rates a confident bet and worth backing to maximum stakes. Verdict - 5pts 3+ in the total goals market @ 5/4 (Stan James)