Liverpool to soften up stale Leicester at Anfield
Liverpool will be looking to close the gap on the top four positions in the Premier League when they entertain Leicester City in the televised Friday night kick-off. The hosts bested Aston Villa last weekend to cut the gap between Tottenham Hotspur and themselves to five points with a game in hand, and they'll be aiming for another triumph against former manager Brendan Rodgers' tilting Foxes, who look in desperate need of some fresh faces in midfield. Read our preview here:
The Dijk strike
A combination of Unai Emery's side's efforts and Darwin Núñez's finishing ensured it wasn't a victory without some hairy moments for Jürgen Klopp's men, who would nevertheless have taken heart from young midfielder Stefan Bajcetic's first ever goal from the bench for the Reds, as well as a striker's finish from Virgil van Dijk. The influential Dutch stopper has been cited by national teammate Cody Gakpo as a big factor in why the latter has agreed a deal to join in January from PSV on the back of a superb World Cup. He won't join up just yet however, and Klopp might opt for an unchanged XI with an eye on next week's fixtures.
Paying his Dews
Rodgers is once again circling the managerial drain after a rather tepid showing in their 3-0 rout by Newcastle United, who now stand where his charges did just 12 months ago. Dennis Praet went off in the first half of that game, so will take no part at Anfield. James Maddison also won't feature, which puts a lot of the creative burden on Youri Tielemans from deep and in dead ball situations. Further upfield, Jamie Vardy is line for a recall, whilst Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will roam behind him to put some pressure on a still leaky home defence.
Betting tip
betway have odds of 2.60 for Klopp's troops to take the spoils whilst allowing Leicester to score, temporarily cutting the deficit to just two points in the process.
