Liverpool v Cardiff – Match Preview and Betting Tip
With two of the Premier League's top three facing off at the Emirates this weekend, Liverpool have a real opportunity to cement their place as a serious title challenger. As much as Brendan Rodgers has done a good job for the Reds in the time that he's been at the club, only the most optimistic Kopites would have predicted such an elevated status this season.
But the key moment of Liverpool's pre-season was when they managed to hang on to Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan could well be the third best player in the world – after Messi and Ronaldo, of course – and what is certain is that the quality of his play at the moment is simply sublime. Despite the fact that Cardiff have made a more than competent start to life in the Premier League, it will be extremely difficult for them to cope with the mercurial Suarez.
Cardiff City were actually the first opponent for Liverpool during the management era of Bill Shankly, and they beat Liverpool 4-0 at Anfield that day. The two clubs have taken very different trajectories since then, but the Welsh club are finally heading in the right direction.
I think this will be a relatively open game, partly because Liverpool can't really play any other way, but also because I think the Cardiff manager, Malky Mackay, will recognise the futility of simply attempting to keep Liverpool quiet by putting men behind the ball. I think Mackay will recognise that Liverpool are at their most vulnerable when they are attacked, and that a weakness of the team is that they can struggle to change their style of play if they go a goal behind.
So I can see this being a pretty high scoring encounter. Thus, my tip for this particular fixture is that there will be more than 3.5 goals in this fixture.
Selection: Over 3.5 goals – 6/5 with BetVictor
