With the Reds relying on Manchester City to slip up on the final day of the season, our tipster is backing an open match from the first whistle

After a loss and a draw in their last two matches, Liverpool may have thrown away their title chances. Brendan Rodgers’ men play Newcastle United on the final day of the season, hoping that West Ham United can do them a massive favour by beating leaders Man City.

Everything was looking rosy for the Reds as they came to their final match of April, with Chelsea the visitors at Anfield. However, a well-drilled Jose Mourinho side came out on top, which meant Liverpool were no longer in the driving seat in the race for the title. With the Reds then throwing away a three-goal lead against Crystal Palace by conceding three times in nine minutes, City have been effectively gifted the league, with Manuel Pellegrini’s men now needing only to win at home at the weekend to be crowned champions.

Liverpool, however, still have a job to do against Newcastle just in case there is an upset in Eastlands. Bet365 price the Reds at 1/5 (1.20) to win the match.

Newcastle will be glad to see the back of this season after struggling for form in the second half of the campaign. With seven losses in their last nine league games, the pressure is well and truly on Alan Pardew. With a top-10 finish guaranteed for the Newcastle, they have nothing to play for on Sunday. Bet365 price them at 12/1 (13.00) to win, with the same firm pricing the draw at 11/2 (6.50).

With Liverpool needing a victory to give them any hope of winning the league, it’s tough to see past them in this fixture, with Newcastle in woeful form.

With no value to be found backing them outright, it’s worth looking at the first-half goals market, which has proved a profitable way in Liverpool matches this season.

The over 1.5 first half goals at 5/6 (1.83) is certainly worth backing . This bet would have landed in eight of the Reds’ last 10 home games, and with Liverpool maybe looking to put early pressure on Manchester City, expect them to come out of the blocks firing.

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With two teams brimming with attacking talent competing for top spot on the final day of the season, Al Hain-Cole has taken a look at the most likely match-winners

As an enthralling Premier League season reaches its finale on Sunday, it seems apt that the two highest-scoring teams are left fighting it out for the title.
With 199 goals scored between them, Manchester City and Liverpool have provided plenty of entertainment all campaign and will each look to their impressive array of attacking talent to decide once and for all where the trophy ends up.

Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa left Manuel Pellegrini’s men needing only a draw against West Ham in order to claim a second title in three seasons, but with Sergio Aguero 2/9 (1.22), Edin Dzeko 4/11 (1.36), Alvaro Negredo 2/5 (1.40) and Yaya Toure 8/13 (1.62) to call upon, it is hard to see them not blowing the Hammers away.

The quartet’s return of 62 league goals this season is more than the total of 15 other Premier League teams, so Paddy Power’s low anytime goalscorer odds are hardly surprising.

However, with Aguero struggling with injury and Negredo out of form, Dzeko and Toure are where the smart money lie as they attempt to fire their side to the title.

Having hit five goals in his last three games, Dzeko is not to be missed at 6/4 (2.50) to strike at least twice for the ninth time for club and country this season, while Toure’s energy and expertise from the penalty spot make him great value at 7/2 (4.50) to score last for the third games in four.

Meanwhile at Anfield, the celebrated ‘SAS’ will be waiting to pounce in case City fall to an unthinkable defeat.

With 31 goals and both Player of the Year awards to his name this season, Luis Suarez is on offer at just 1/4 (1.25) to strike anytime, while Daniel Sturridge is available at a mere 2/5 (1.40) to hit a 22nd league goal of the season.

With little value to be found there, it is instead worth backing Raheem Sterling to continue his exciting recent form by scoring a fourth goal in five games, which is available at 13/10 (2.30).

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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.

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The pair, who left Anfield last summer, take on league leaders Manchester City and can hand the Merseysiders the chance to claim the title should they win at the Etihad Stadium

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva plans to bombard West Ham duo Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing with texts asking for favours on Sunday.

Brendan Rodgers’ men need the Hammers to beat league leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on the final day, which would mean a victory against Newcastle would give the Reds a first league title in 24 years.

And Lucas says he will be asking Carroll and Downing, who both moved to Upton Park from Anfield on permanent deals last summer, to do their former team a favour.

Asked if he would send them texts, Lucas said:  “Yeah. Of course.

“They have been here with us, working with us and I’m sure they will do their best to get points for West Ham first and if they can help us.

“But it’s not in our hands anymore. Against Crystal Palace (in a 3-3 draw) for eight or nine minutes we just switched off and paid the price. We have to learn from that.

“We just have to improve and see if we can get any luck now until the end of the season, even if we know it is hard now.”

Liverpool threw away a three-goal lead against Palace at Selhurt Park and Lucas admitted the team struggled to deal with such a calamitous defeat.

“It was very quiet in the dressing room after the game, probably the most quiet I have ever seen since I joined the club,” the Brazilian added.

“You could see on the faces of the players at the awards on Tuesday that we still hadn’t recovered from the Palace game. The day after is always the worst.”