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Sunday afternoon will see Chelsea take the field at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool in a desperate bid to recover from last weekend’s loss. This will be excellent game with only 3 points separating the two teams. Chelsea is currently in 2^nd place and Liverpool 3^rd in the 2009/10 Barclays Premier League season.

Chelsea

The Chelsea side is a very formidable opponent no matter where they play and have only taken the 1 loss so far in the 2009/10 Premier League season. Apart from a draw in a pre-season friendly, Chelsea had won every match so far this season until the surprise 3-1 loss to Wigan last weekend and they’ll be seeking to overcome this quickly. They also have a great chance to move 6 points clear of a major rival.

Along with Man U, Chelsea is the side to beat and have made an impressive start to their Premier League campaign.

Chelsea is developing a slight problem with injuries and has a few of players on the sidelines. Mikel, Ballack and Alex are all out for this weekend’s clash.

Liverpool

Liverpool has made an impressive return to form after their shaky start to the 2009/10 Premier League season despite losing to Fiorentina on Wednesday. Prior to this they had notched up 6 consecutive wins. The Liverpool side is shaping up a little differently this season with a more attacking mentality. They were able to score 6 times last weekend against Hull City.

Liverpool is quite clearly capable of winning this Sunday and will be keen to level on points with their title rivals.

The injury list at Liverpool shouldn’t affect their game too much with Aquilani on the sidelines with an ankle/foot injury and Mascherano looking doubtful with a virus.

My Opinion

This could quite possibly be the best Premier League match that we’ll see this season with both teams desperate to get the other out of the title race. Although it is still early in the season a loss here will hurt.

I would expect to see a draw, although it has been sometime since Chelsea last lost at Stamford Bridge. The new found attacking style of Liverpool could very well see this turn into a high scoring affair. As a Liverpool supporter I would like to see them win, but I would consider this to be an unlikely result.

My Tip – Draw (Odds of $3.45 at Betfair)

On Saturday afternoon in the English city of Liverpool, the Reds will be playing host to the lads from Hull City in their next Premier League fixture. This should be an easy opportunity to win a bit of cash with the chances of Liverpool losing being very slim.

Liverpool

After a shaky start to the 2009/10 Premier League season, Liverpool is finally beginning to find some solid form. They are currently sitting in third place on the league table after winning their last 3 premier league fixtures. Overall they have won their last 5 games including 1 Carling Cup match and 1 Champions League match.

They have definitely been impressive over the last few weeks and their current form would be expected to be continued as they take on Hull at Anfield.

Liverpool only has 2 injuries in their line-up at the moment with Alberto Aquilani out with an ankle/foot injury (2 Weeks) and Daniel Agger with a back injury (5 Weeks).

Hull City

Hull City has not had a good opening to their Premier League campaign only managing to take 4 points in their 6 league fixtures so far. On average, Hull City is conceding slightly over 2 goals per game this season and they have lost their last 2 premier league games as well as taking a loss on Wednesday in the Carling Cup. The 2 games prior to this resulted in a draw against the Wolves and a win over Southend in the Carling Cup.

A very disappointing start to the season from Hull City has resulted with them sitting in 19^th place on the league table and unless they can turn it around, they may be facing relegation in the next few months.

Their line-up is currently riddled with injuries with 5 players out. The list includes Steven Mouyokolo with a hamstring injury (3 Days), Anthony Gardner with a knee injury (3 Days), Richard Garcia with a knee injury (5 Weeks), Jimmy Bullard with a knee injury (1 week) and Ian Ashbee is out with a PCL tear (7 Months).

My Opinion

Liverpool should be the outright winner here without any trouble from the visiting side. Liverpool only just missed out on the Premier league title last season and they are expected to challenge for it again this season. Hull City on the other hand is not exactly the best team in the league and will find it difficult to stave off defeat at the hands of the Reds.

The best bet for this match would have to be the correct score of 2-0 with a Liverpool win. The payout for this is currently $6.80 and is a very likely score line. Another safe bet would be on a clean sheet for Liverpool paying $1.70.

Head along to Betfair now for all the best Barclays Premier League odds.

If you had of looked at the betting markets for the English Premier League just over two weeks ago, you’d have seen that Manchester United were about as short as you can get in a race with 19 other challengers and a dozen rounds yet to be played. They were seven points clear of their nearest rivals Liverpool and to make matters even more difficult for their opponents they had a game in hand as well.

How could last year’s champions of Europe possibly lose from there?

Flash forward to the present and we have been given a great example of how quickly things can turn around in sport. It all began with Liverpool’s 4-1 thumping of Man U in Manchester, a game bookies had given Benitez’s men little chance of winning. It was followed up the very next weekend with Liverpool hammering top 4 candidate Aston Villa 5-0, and the shock loss of United to Fulham – their first back-t-back loss in the EPL since 2005.

All of a sudden Liverpool’s rich vein of form has seen them firm from 11/1 in to 5/2 in just two weeks. Manchester remain favourites at 4/11 as they are one point clear of Liverpool with a game in hand over the rest of the field. Chelsea are in third spot a further 3 points back.

So what has gone wrong for Man U…and what has gone right for Liverpool?

Liverpool’s Resurgent Combination Up Front

The key for Liverpool over the past few weeks, has been the partnership between home town hero Steven Gerrard, and the prodigiously talented Spaniard Fernando Torres. Gerrard has been in imperious form of late scoring 6 goals in his last 3 games and is putting himself forward as a candidate for FIFA Footballer Of The Year.

His combination with Torres definitely raises the performance of the rest of the team, and this has been obvious since the Spaniard’s return from injury. With such strikepower up front the rest of the team understands that if they do their job well, the goals will come and over the past few weeks they have delivered on this.

The Problem For Manchester

Having assumed such a commanding lead at the top of the table, all the talk over the past few weeks had been about the possibility of them claiming an unprecedented five titles in the one season. This may have led them to take their eye of the ball so to speak.

In interviews with many of the players after their defeat to Fulham, there was a definite air of surprise about what was happening, which is often an indication that some complacency had slipped in to their camp.

Obviously they are trying to manage their resources in their bid to claim Cup victories in Europe and at home, but they will need to pick up their act once the season regular resumes at the conclusion of the upcoming round of international friendlies.

Manchester’s Opponents Will Be On Liverpool’s Side

They play Aston Villa straight up, with Martin O’Neill’s men currently lying three points outside of the top four. A loss to Manchester would put a huge hole in their drive to qualify for the Champions league next year and will give them the greatest possible incentive to win.

Then there is the fact that the majority of teams in the competition (with the obvious exception being Everton) would rather see Liverpool claim the title, and you have a situation where all of Manchester’s opponents will be gunning for their head.

The next couple of months are going to make for some very interesting viewing.

Crooksy