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.
Anfield is gearing up to host a titanic Premier League clash between title-favourites Liverpool and crisis club Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday – and it’s the kind of fixture that regularly sets nerves jangling and leaves supporters white knuckled and gripping seats.
Liverpool’s lengthy early-season winning streak was brought to a halt last week by bitter rivals Man Utd at Old Trafford, though Jurgen Klopps’ table-toppers will be eager to get straight back into the groove at Spurs’ expense this weekend.
Sunday’s game promises to be an enthralling contest, and as always bet365 have a fantastic range of player specials well worth considering for this heavyweight meeting on Merseyside.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of selections from those player specials that we think are worth backing for Sunday’s match. Check them out below.
Want more Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur betting tips? Check out our comprehensive match preview for Sunday’s game!
Erik Lamela under 0.5 shots on target
Liverpool are expected to dominate from the off against a Spurs’ side weighed down by major confidence issues, and that should leave the often peripheral Erik Lamela isolated for much of Sunday’s game.
The technically talented Argentine generally carries only a sporadic goal-threat for Spurs and the 27-year old has averaged just 1.3 shots per game in the Premier League this term, scoring only twice in seven starts overall.
With Lamela certain to have limited opportunities to make an impact in the final third on Sunday, we think he is priced generously to have under 0.5 shots on target.
Mohamed Salah over 3.5 shots
Egyptian attacker Mohamed Salah usually finds an extra gear when facing Tottenham Hotspur. The 27-year old Salah has scored six goals in his last eight starts against Spurs across all competitions, with four of those coming while playing for the Merseyside club (also one each for Basel and Fiorentina).
In terms of his overall goal threat this season, Salah ranks highest at Liverpool for average shots taken per Premier League appearances with 3.3, though that average jumps to a more impressive 3.8 when you isolate his run outs at Anfield.
The talismanic wide forward will expect to be at the sharp end of most of Liverpool’s attacking play again this weekend, and we think he should strike his way past our targeted attempts figure with relative comfort.
Harry Winks over 2.5 tackles
It’s likely to be a case of all hands to the pump for an out of sorts Tottenham team this weekend, as they attempt to avoid being washed away by the waves of Liverpool’s relentless attack.
Spurs’ youngster Harry Winks will undoubtedly be saddled with a heavy defensive workload at Anfield while playing at the base of a midfield three for Mauricio Pochettino, and though the 22-year old is more renowned for his play-making skills rather than his powers of destruction, we expect Winks to be repeatedly called into defensive action on Merseyside.
Winks has averaged just 1.7 tackles per Premier League appearance since the summer, though we think Winks is in for a far busier afternoon than normal on Sunday.
Danny Rose to get booked
Long-serving Spurs fullback Danny Rose has the unenviable task of marking the quicksilver Mohamed Salah at Anfield this weekend, and the 29-year old will have to be at his best to limit the Egyptian’s influence.
Spurs will be hoping that Rose can control the aggressive streak that has landed him with four bookings in eight Premier League starts this season, though we feel the defender is a prime candidate to get carded again.
Incredibly, Rose has been shown yellow in 50% of the league games he has featured in for Tottenham to date in 2019/20, and the experienced international will likely draw unwanted attention from the referee this weekend in what promises to be a keenly contested game.
Looking for more cards predictions? Check out our Premier League cards and corners betting tips special here.
Andrew Robertson over 67.5 passes
It might surprise you to learn that Scottish full-back Andrew Robertson has seen more of the ball than any of his Liverpool teammates this season.
The assist-happy 25-year old has averaged 76.1 passes per 90 minutes of Premier League action this term, placing him ahead of Virgi van Dijk, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho in that metric.
Remarkably, Robertson distributed his way past 67.5 passes in seven of his nine top-flight starts for Liverpool since the summer, and we’re backing him to be just as prolific with his passing this weekend.
Don’t forget – You can also take a look at all of our match previews and betting tips for the weekend’s action on our Premier League predictions page.
