Leicester City v Liverpool: Can Puel Put the Brakes on Rampant Reds?

The first sighting of Premier League football this weekend comes from the King Power Stadium as Leicester City host early season pacesetters Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime – kick off: 12:30.

The Foxes have quickly put an opening weekend defeat at Old Trafford behind them to register two wins against Wolves and Southampton, to sit in a handy seventh place on six points from their first three matches.

Liverpool have flown out of the gates thus far with three wins over West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton. Jurgen Klopp’s side have scored seven goals without conceding, as the Reds take the trip to the East Midlands to try and maintain an impressive start.

Match Odds

The bookmakers obviously see this contest as a routine victory for the Merseysiders, as Liverpool are very strong favourites in the Win Market for Saturday’s game. Liverpool can be backed with MarathonBet at the best industry price, at the time of writing of 23/50 to register an opening quartet of victories in the Premier League.

Unibet are the best odds on the King Power stalemate at 39/10, while a victory for the Foxes can be once again taken with MarathonBet at the stand-out price of 7/1.

Last season’s fixture between the two teams at Leicester saw Liverpool take the spoils in an entertaining 3-2 win. Liverpool stormed into an early 2-0 lead through Mohamed Salah and the now departed Philippe Coutinho, with Shinji Okazaki halving the deficit in first-half injury time. Jordan Henderson renewed the two-goal advantage, only for Jamie Vardy to hit back almost immediately. The former England man then missed a penalty for the Foxes as Liverpool held on for the win.

Vardy is ineligible for this game following his straight red card against Wolves, and his absence will be a huge miss for Leicester.

With the recent addition of high-profile players through the door at Anfield, there is a real belief within the confines of the club that Liverpool can really challenge Manchester City for the title this season, and victory over Leicester would help cement that belief as Liverpool look to win their maiden Premier League title.

As previously mentioned, the Foxes are not at full strength, and the Reds look good value to capitalise.

Individual Goal Scorers

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

Liverpool have arguably the finest three-pronged attack in the Premier League, if not Europe, and it will come as no surprise to see their triumvirate of strikers heading the betting to score the opening goal in this game.

The obvious starting point is Mohamed Salah, who can be backed with MarathonBet at the leading market price of 71/25. The Egyptian has already scored two from three games, and will be a popular choice with punters to break the deadlock here.

Daniel Sturridge is next in line at 9/2 with Betway, but his participation in the game could only be from the substitutes’ bench, so he is passed over for others.

Fellow Liverpool forwards, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane make up the fearsome attacking trio for Klopp’s side, and the Brazilian can be backed at 11/2 with Betway again to find the opening salvo.

My main interest is for Sadio Mane however, at 6/1 – yet again – with Betway. The Senegalese forward has already scored three Premier League goals so far this season, and he looks to be solid value at the odds to open the scoring.

Others to consider at larger odds include Leicester’s summer signing, James Maddison at 12/1 with 10Bet, who looks to have taken the step up from Championship side Norwich City in his stride.

James Milner is another candidate at a generally available 14/1, especially considering the midfield man is a regular penalty taker for his team.

Other Side Bets

Klopp’s side will look to continue their fast start to the season, and that could well bode well for our main selection of Liverpool to be leading the game at Half-Time and Full-Time. Ladbrokes and Coral go the best industry price of 6/5 on this particular selection, and it rates as our strongest bet of the game.

Previous meetings between the pair suggests that goals are likely on Saturday lunchtime with five of the last six meetings yielding over 2.5 goals in the game, however, with Leicester missing their leading striker, it tempers enthusiasm for goals galore.

A slightly risky, yet rewarding proposition could be to take the 33/25 with Marathonbet for UNDER 2.5 Goals in the game. Liverpool are very sound defensively, since the arrivals of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to bolster their rear-guard, as the Foxes could struggle to break the Reds down.

Our Correct Score offering is for a routine 2-0 victory for Liverpool at 13/2 with Betfred and Boylesports as we predict that the Reds will continue their excellent start to their league campaign.

Best Bets:

• Liverpool to be winning at Half-Time and Full-Time at 6/5 with Coral
• Sadio Mane First Goal Scorer at 6/1 with Betway
• Leicester 0-2 Liverpool Correct Score bet at 13/2 with Betfred.