Liverpool vs. Leicester City Preview
Where: Anfield – Liverpool, England
When: Saturday, September 10, 12:30 PM ET
Line: Liverpool -175 vs. Leicester City +390, tie +270; total 2.5 – view all EPL soccer lines
TV Broadcast: NBCSN
Writer’s Pick: Liverpool (-175)
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Betting on Liverpool (-175)
At this point, it’s safe to say that Sadio Mane holds the key to Liverpool’s success this season. He was once again the star man against Spurs, just as he was in their 4-3 opening game win over Arsenal. His terrific speed and power have been a perfect fit to manager Jurgen Klopp’s “gegenpressing” system. Not coincidentally, they lost the one game he missed: that shock 2-0 loss to Burnley.
Sane suffered a slight knock on international duty with Senegal, but he should be fit for the weekend’s match with champions Leicester.
Liverpool’s fluid front three – with Mane, Philippe Coutinho, and Roberto Firmino – will be a handful for Leicester’s defense to deal with, especially now that N’Golo Kante is no longer there to protect the defense. All three love to drift over to midfield and interchange positions, making them very tough to mark.
Betting on Leicester City (+390)
After a 2-1 loss to Hull and a 0-0 draw against Arsenal, defending champions Leicester City finally scored their first win of the new season with a 2-1 triumph over Swansea.
Leicester are still adjusting to life without Kante, one of the stars of their title-winning campaign, but they looked like vintage Leicester in their opener against the Swans. Jamie Vardy got on the end of a terrific long ball and converted a lightning-quick counterattack.
The Foxes flourished last season when they were able to just sit back and allow opponents to come to them. They will have the opportunity to do just that at Anfield, where Liverpool will be under some pressure to produce a win. But as Burnley showed, Liverpool still have their problems breaking overly defensive teams down.
Leicester have a bit more variety with their attack this time around. They still have the speed of Vardy (who scored twice in Leicester’s 2-0 home win over Liverpool last season) and Ahmed Musa, which will be dangerous in the counter. They will also have another option off the bench with record signing Islam Slimani, who scored 48 goals in 82 appearances for Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Writer’s Prediction
Liverpool’s press (-175) overwhelms Leicester as the Reds roll to a 2-0 home win.
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