As two attacking sides meet in a crucial top-of-the-table showdown on Merseyside, Al Hain-Cole examines the star men hoping to fire their teams to the title
The Premier League’s two most prolific teams meet at Anfield on Sunday in a mouth-watering potential title decider.
In a game featuring a number of match-winners, Premier League top scorer Luis Suarez is bet365’s 15/4 (4.75) favourite to open the scoring, with slender 10/11 (1.91) odds available on him hitting his 30th goal of the season.
Liverpool’s surprise title challenge has largely been built around the mercurial Uruguayan’s strike partnership with Daniel Sturridge, who is on offer at 9/2 (5.50) to break the deadlock for the 10th league fixture in a campaign that has reaped 23 goals so far – or 11/10 (2.10) to strike anytime.
While Suarez and Sturridge’s position as the league’s deadliest strike force is currently well established, it was not so long ago that Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo were receiving all the plaudits.
Although injury has disrupted Aguero’s season, Manuel Pellegrini insists the diminutive Argentine is in “perfect” condition for the trip to Anfield – bad news for the home defence.
Having scored 14 goals in 13 league games prior to his hamstring injury, the 25-year-old is well worth backing at 11/10 (2.10) to hit the ground running with a goal on his timely return to action.
However, a barren spell of 14 club games without a goal means Negredo hardly inspires at 7/4 (2.75) to find the net against a side he netted against back in December, with Edin Dzeko offering better value at that price after four goals in his last four games.
Yaya Toure has done more than anyone to fill the void left by Aguero’s absence and is a tempting proposition at 11/5 (3.20) to hit a seventh in seven league games in another high profile fixture, having scored against Arsenal, Tottenham, Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final and in both Manchester derbies this season.
When it comes to the big occasion, though, few are more reliable than Steven Gerrard, who is currently enjoying the second most prolific season of an illustrious career with 13 Premier League goals to his name.
With 10 of those coming via penalties, the England captain would relish the opportunity Rickie Lambert enjoyed from the spot against City last weekend, and offers solid value at 5/2 (3.50) to grab a seventh career goal against these opponents with his ninth in 11 games.
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Al Hain-Cole is an experienced tipster and avid follower of European football. He specialises in accumulators and if you would like to read more from Al you can follow him on Twitter here.