Real Betis v Liverpool Preview

Stan James Prices Real Betis??6/5Draw???..11/5Liverpool??.2/1Although Real Betis are a top quality Spanish side and a team to be respected, you suspect that Liverpool will fancy their chances in this one. Why? Well firstly Real Betis are missing some key players. Edu, Joaquin, Luiz Fernandez and Pizarro are all missing due to injury and there is no doubt that this will have an unsettling effect on Betis. Secondly Benitez and many of the Spanish Liverpool players will be well aware of how Betis will play and it'll no doubt suit them. To quote Benitez "I know their team and their players and so I will be able to give my players a lot of information and a lot of details". Thirdly the Betis defence is proven to be vulnerable and they just might not be able to cope with the height of Peter Crouch and the guile of Cisse. Crouch is 6/1 to score first and Cisse is 5's. Unfortunately for Liverpool, Morientes is injured. Lastly their record is good in Spain, winning more in Espana than they have when they have played Spanish teams at home.The teams have never met before in Europe and it is Real Betis's first season in the Champions League. The Seville based team though has a strong tradition and they will certainly not be intimidated by Liverpool. Their key man will be striker Oliveira. He was top scorer in La Liga last season so he's a serious marksman. He's a 5/1 shot to score first and is 6/5 to score at anytime. They have already beaten Monaco convincingly to qualify for the Champions League and they have opened their campaign in La Liga with a 1-0 defeat to Valencia and recently a 1-0 home win over Osasuna. Liverpool's relatively easy Champions League entry via the qualifiers can really be discounted as the quality of the opposition was tenuous to say the least. This will be a different kettle of fish. Their domestic campaign so far has also been pretty low key. They certainly haven't set the world alight in the Premiership. One thing that has come out so far with both teams is that they haven't been prolific scorers. Under two goals is 15/8, and it wouldn't be an irrational bet. Exactly two goals though is a real runner. At 5/2 I could see this as good value. Also both sides like to get stuck in and the booking index of over 46 points could be an option at 15/8. Finally I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that Betis will struggle to score tonight. Benitez will have their measure tactically and the Reds defence has been pretty solid. The fact also that proven goalscorers are missing for Betis means that the 2/1 on the Seville outfit not to score does look tempting. Liverpool 2-0 at 11's could be the solution. The match is being covered live on ITV2 at 19.45pm