Liverpool v Cardiff: Reds to keep Bluebirds quiet at Anfield

Liverpool v Cardiff
Saturday October 27, 15:00
Live on BT Sport

Liverpool back to rampant best

Mohamed Salah scored twice to reach a half-century of Liverpool goals in a comfortable 4-0 midweek victory over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. The Egyptian marksman was joined on the scoresheet by Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane as Jurgen Klopp's troops produced a dominant display.

Mane also missed a penalty as the Reds generated an impressive 4.44 Expected Goals - the highest figure across matchday three from the Champions League. Klopp was delighted with his team's effort, particularly summer signing Xherdan Shaqiri, who proved influential for the Merseysiders in midfield.

Firmino was one of five players back in the starting line-up after a depleted Liverpool side narrowly beat Huddersfield in the Premier League seven days ago. With Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita both unavailable, Fabinho and Shaqiri are expected to keep their places here, alongside Georginio Wijnaldum.

Cardiff hoping for more success

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock said he hopes the Bluebirds' first win since promotion to the Premier League over Fulham can be a springboard for future success. The capital cup triumphed 4-2 in a pulsating encounter to climb off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone.

Pre-match Warnock suggested he would not bet on Cardiff surviving this season but his team responded superbly, scoring as many goals in their 4-2 victory as they did in their previous eight games. Josh Murphy, Bobby Reid, Callum Paterson and Kadeem Harris were all on target for the Welsh outfit.

Midfielder Joe Ralls remains but Aron Gunnarsson is back in contention after recovering from a knee injury. Gary Madine is fit following a virus but striker Danny Ward, wideman Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and defender Lee Peltier are all still on the treatment table and unavailable for the trip to Anfield.

Reds can keep Bluebirds quiet

Liverpool haven't lost a league match to Cardiff since 1959 - when both clubs were in the second-tier - and the Merseysiders are just 1.12 to extend their outstanding W35-D9-L1record at Anfield when welcoming newly-promoted clubs. Under Jurgen Klopp, that record reads W7-D0-L0 by an aggregate 21-2.

The hosts had not looked quite themselves in recent games - narrowly beating Huddersfield, after draws with Manchester City and Chelsea and a late defeat by Napoli. But they were definitely in the mood against their Serbian guests in midweek, keeping a seventh clean sheet of the campaign already.

Liverpool are giving up fewer than five shots per-game from inside the penalty area and have restricted their opponents to just 0.43 Expected Goals per-game on average. What's more, the Reds have silenced their opposition in 14 of their past 21 Premier League contests when Virgil van Dijk has started at centre-half.

With that in mind, backing Liverpool to win 'to nil' appeals 1.72. Cardiff 30.00 have already been silenced in half of their Premier League outings since promotion, and pitch up having returned W0-D1-L14 in their past 15 encounters with Big Six teams in the top-flight, conceding two or more in 12 of those tussles.

Little value in goals line

Over 3.5 Goals 1.86 is odds-on at Anfield on Saturday but with only 8/23 (35%) of Liverpool's home Premier League dates producing four or more goals since the start of last season, there's little value in supporting a high-scoring duel. Indeed, only 13 (57%) of those fixtures broke the Over 2.5 Goals line.

Cardiff scored four or more goals in a top-flight game for the first time since 1961 last weekend and created chances with a frequency they had not enjoyed since they were in the Championship. However, Neil Warnock's men are likely to be starved of goalscoring opportunities and possession on Merseyside.

Same Game Multi

If we enter Betfair Sportsbook's Same Game Multi market we can bolster odds on our preferred selection to 7/5 by adding a couple more angles of attack.

Choosing Liverpool to win, Liverpool to lead at half-time, Over 1.5 Goals and Cardiff to score Under 0.5 Goals would see us collect should the Reds lead at half-time and full-time by a scoreline of 2-0 or more without conceding.

RECOMMENDED BETS

Back Liverpool to win ‘to nil’ @ 1.72 in Liverpool v Cardiff