ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - LIVERPOOL V SUNDERLAND

English Premier

2010-03-28 - Liverpool vs Sunderland

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Liverpool v Sunderland
Football: England, Premier League
Sunday, 28th March 2010 - Kickoff 4pm

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Liverpool

Liverpool may have lost a little bit of ground in the race for 4th place with a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford last week but they do remain the side favourite to claim the last Champions League place on offer. The side remain formidable at Anfield and will be glad to be home this weekend against tough opposition. The last time Liverpool played Sunderland, they were involved in balloon-gate and I am sure all red balls will be banned from Anfield on Sunday.

The Reds are 6th in the table, 4 points behind Tottenham Hotspur who currently hold 4th but could be further behind with Spurs facing Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon. Liverpool do have the better run in towards the end of season but cannot afford too many more slip ups. They have remained strong at Anfield where they are 11-2-2, scoring 37 goals and conceding 13. Only the top 3 sides have scored more goals on their own ground than Liverpool this season so far.

Form for Liverpool at home and away has been night and day recently. They have only won 1 of their last 9 games away from home in all competitions whereas they have now won 7 in a row at Anfield. Liverpool have only conceded 2 goals in those games at Anfield while Fernando Torres is getting his scoring boots back at home where he has scored 5 goals in his last 3 games there.

Martin Skrtal could be back in the squad for this game although Fabio Aurelio is still missing. Albert Aquilani should also be available after recovering from illness.

Sunderland

Steve Bruce has seen his side go on a 5 match unbeaten run in the Premier League at just the right time and moves the Black Cats away from relegation issues. Craig Gordon has been in fabulous form for the side and could be kept busy here.

Sunderland have moved up to 13th in the Premier League table and begin the weekend with an 11 point gap to Burnley and Hull in the relegation zone. It seems they are now about 6 points from safety and they should be confident of having another season in the top flight next season. They have struggled away from home, going 1-4-10 this season, scoring 14 goals but conceding 31 in those games.

The Black Cats have only lost 1 of their last 9 games but it is their 2 wins from the last 4 games that has helped them move up the table. They havent won away from home in the Premier League since the opening day of the season, but have avoided defeat in 2 of their last 3 away.

John Mensah is a doubt for Steve Bruce and Kenwyn Jones needs a late fitness test to play against the side that were desperate to sign him in January.

Head to Head

Liverpool had beaten Sunderland in 6 consecutive games before losing at the Stadium of Light earlier this season in bizarre fashion.

They have beaten Sunderland here in 4 of the last 5 meetings in the League and the Black Cats have failed to trouble the scoresheet in those games.

Prediction

Liverpool will feel much more comfortable with a return to Anfield and will be hoping for another good performance here. They have struggled away from home and this makes the home games that much more important as they continue attempting to make the 'guarantee' of finishing 4th from Rafa Benitez a reality.

Sunderland will feel the pressure is off now with a nice gap between them and the sides in the relegation positions. They still will want to ensure safety as soon as possible but this is a tough place to come against a side with perhaps more motivation than them at this time.

I think Liverpool will come out on top in this game and will back them to cover the Asian Handicap. I will also put some money on Fernando Torres to score at anytime which is available at 1.72 if you look around.

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Fernando Torres score anytime @ 1.72 (888sport/Bluesq)