Premier League Betting Tips: Player Specials for Liverpool’s Crucial Clash with Man City on Sunday
Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
Premier League titles aren’t handed out as early as November, however, Sunday’s heavyweight bout between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield has all the makings of a season-defining fixture for both clubs.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, in search of their first league title since 1990, currently hold a six-point advantage over defending champions Man City in the current Premier League table, though a three-point swing in either direction on Sunday would have massive ramifications in the quest for the honours.
With so much at stake, Manchester City vs Liverpool is a terrific fixture to pick out some potentially lucrative selections from the bookmakers’ individual player markets and specials.
Take at look at our selections below.
Looking for more Liverpool vs Manchester City predictions and betting tips? Read our expert’s detailed match preview of Sunday’s titanic tussle.
Mohamed Salah over 1.5 shots on target
Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah (five) hasn’t been quite as prolific as his teammate and Liverpool top scorer Sadio Mane (six) in the Premier League this season, though it hasn’t been for the want of trying.
The 27-year old is out on his own at the top of the attempts charts for the Reds, racking up 3.7 shots per Premier League game for Liverpool since the summer.
That average climbs to an even more eye watering 4.4 per 90 minutes for Liverpool’s league games at Anfield, and Salah has got 2.2 of those attempts on target on average per contest.
We’re backing Salah to maintain that healthy average against a City team that are conceding 8.2 shots per away game this season, compared to just 6.5 per 90 minutes on the road last year.
Liverpool’s clash with Man City features in our Premier League Weekend Stat Attack article this week complete with a 38/1 acca!
Kevin de Bruyne under 1.5 shots
Belgian chance creator extraordinaire Kevin de Bruyne has played more key passes per game (four) and racked up more assists (nine) than any of his City teammates this season in the Premier League.
But while the 28-year old’s powers of invention aren’t in question, de Bruyne probably doesn’t threaten the opposition goal directly as often as he should.
De Bruyne has averaged 2.5 shots per game for City this season, though that figure drops to a much more modest 1.4 in away matches.
This season, Liverpool have given up just 6.6 shots an average to teams visiting Anfield, and with de Bruyne likely to be fully occupied in an Anfield midfield battle on Sunday, we think his opportunities to test Alisson will be limited.
Liverpool’s meeting with City is just one of the televised games that features in our Premier League cards and corners betting tips this week, which contains a huge 47/1 5-fold acca!
Fernandinho over 1.5 tackles
Veteran Brazilian and Citizens stalwart Fernandinho has been filling in admirably at centre-half during the club’s selection crisis at the back, and the 35-year old will likely keep his place there for Sunday’s game at Anfield.
Though Fernandinho generally makes fewer tackles when playing as part of City’s rearguard than he does in his usual anchorman role, the Brazilian has still averaged 1.4 challenges per appearances this term – which is a relatively high figure compared to other numbers posted by other central defenders in the Premier League.
On Sunday, Fernandinho is almost certain to be working overtime to limit the influence of Liverpool’s incredibly effective attacking trio, and we think the former Shakhtar Donetsk star is priced generously to tackle his way beyond our target.
Fernandinho is one of the main City players associated with “tactical fouling” – you can read a statistical breakdown about Man City and tactical fouling here.
Roberto Firmino over 0.5 assists
Often unheralded by supporters, but rarely unappreciated by his teammates, Roberto Firmino is the glue that holds Liverpool’s sparkling frontline together.
The 28-year old doesn’t make as many headlines or score as many goals as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, though his unselfishness allows the more prolific aforementioned duo to thrive.
Firmino has a fantastic individual record against Man City, and the Brazilian has had a hand in seven goals in his eight Premier League games versus the Citizens (4 goals, 3 assists), both scoring and assisting a goal in three different games against them overall.
Armed with that excellent record, we think Firmino looks great value to add to his haul of six assists in all competitions for the season this weekend.
Virgil van Dijk over 60.5 passes
Dutch defensive colossus Virgil van Dijk is as famed for his use of the ball as his ability to break up attacks, and the underlying numbers shine a light on just how vital the centre half is to Liverpool’s patterns in possession.
Van Dijk has averaged 77.2 passes per Premier League game for Liverpool this season, making him the most frequent passer at the club ahead of teammates Andrew Robertson and Joel Matip.
Van Dijk has distributed his north of our targeted figure of 60.5 passes in seven of his 11 Premier League starts for the Reds since August, an came close in two others (57 vs Norwich and 55 vs Newcastle).
We’re tipping the super-humanly consistent defender to beat the bookies’ target with relative comfort this weekend.
For all the best analysis and betting tips for this weekend’s games, make sure to check out our Premier League predictions page.