Saturday Premiership 2005 Preview

Liverpool travel to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, safe in the knowledge their Champions League defence will continue onto the knockout stages. A goalless draw in midweek ensured safe passage into the final sixteen. The European champions are now unbeaten in five games, having won four and drawn one in all competitions since that desperately disappointing exit from the Carling Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace. Much of the Reds recent success can be attributed to their stingy defence. They have not conceded for the last four and a half hours in the Premiership. Eight clean sheets from their opening eleven league matches is also a club record. It could be argued Rafa Benetiz is more and more shaping this current Liverpool outfit into a replica of his previous club, Valencia who would be extremely tough to break down, yet at the same time normally scoring once or twice at the other end. Manchester City under Stuart Pearce have made a superb start to the season, although the last two matches do suggest a slowdown can be expected. A goalless draw at home to Blackburn followed on the back of defeat at Craven Cottage. With Liverpool in confident mood, playing well both on the European stage and domestic front of late, the advice is to take the 6/4 on an away win. The match is unlikely to have too many goals, so on the goalscoring markets, the best value should be found on the first to score. A favourite topic of the media of late has been the inability of Peter Crouch to score. However, the England International put in a man of the match performance against Real Betis, and has the full support of his manager and colleagues. It can only be a matter of time before the big man finally ends his drought. In addition to a Reds victory, try a small stake on Crouch at a best price 8/1 to score first.