Liverpool v Leeds sees the return of the Premier League champions for the new season. Liverpool get the defence of their title underway at home to newly-promoted Leeds United.
Our top recommended bookmaker for this clash is bet365, who have some of the best odds available and a cracking new customer offer as you can see below:
The hosts won 32 of their 38 Premier League games last season, blowing away the competition on their way to the title. Meanwhile Leeds claimed the Championship title in style, finishing 10pts clear of nearest rivals West Brom, and return to the top flight of English football for the first time in 16-years.
Liverpool and Leeds have produced some fantastic Premier League moments down the years, so the return of The Whites is bound to be welcomed by many a neutral fan, and we're expecting another entertaining 90-minutes on Saturday. The home side scored 85-goals on their way to their first-ever Premier League title and ended the campaign with a +52 in the goal difference column, while netted 77 goals on their way to Championship glory and finished with a goal difference of +42.
Saturday's hosts are without Oxlade-Chamberlain due to a knee injury while Henderson, Shaqiri and Tsimikas are likely to feature on the bench, if at all. Bielsa is hoping to unleash new signing Rodrigo at Anfield but Adam Forshaw has been ruled out for the foreseeable future.
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Liverpool v Leeds betting preview: A Quiet Summer for the Champions
There have been more outs than ins at Anfield so far, but with a few weeks of the transfer window still remaining there is plenty of time to get some more deals done. Greek full-back Konstantinos Tsimikas has arrived from Olympiacos for a fee of around £11.7m to provide cover for Andrew Robertson, while centre back Dejan Lovren ended his time on Merseyside by completing a move to the Russian Premier League with Zenit and 32-year old Adam Lallana has joined Brighton on a free transfer.
Arguably, the best bit of business Leeds United have done this summer is convincing manager Marcelo Bielsa to stay at the club, as it had been feared he might not extend his stay in Yorkshire. Striker Rodrigo is the biggest transfer coming into the club so far, signing for a rumoured £27m from cash-strapped Valencia and has been joined by winger Helder Costa, defender Robin Koch and goalkeeper Illan Meslier. Other than a few players' loan deals and contracts coming to an end, Leeds have kept a hold of their main players and will be confident they have enough in them to remain in the Premier League this season.
Tips and Predictions
Liverpool were strongest at home last season where they won 18 of their 19 matches, so it's not a surprise to see the major bookmakers predicting either 2/7 or 3/10 on a win for the hosts this weekend. Leeds claimed 13 wins on the road last season, only losing 6 of their 23 away trips, and if you fancy the visitors to take all 3pts on Saturday then you can get odds of 17/2 with Bet365.
Leeds found the back of the net in 87% of their games in the Championship last season. You could back both teams to score with Skybet at 8/11, which isn't bad considering Liverpool scored in each of their home matches during the 2019/20 campaign. A draw looks a more likely result than a Leeds win this weekend as Liverpool are looking to make it 60 home games without a defeat on Saturday and Paddy Power are offering 9/2 on a stalemate.
If you are expecting goals in this game, like we are, then a bet on the first goalscorer might be the way to go. Last season Salah scored 19 goals in the Premier League alone, just edging out teammate Mane who netted 18. Bet365 and Betfair are offering 11/4 on the Egyptian scoring the first goal on Saturday, while 888Sport and UniBet are backing Mane to score the first goal at an impressive 4/1. Liverpool performed so well at home last season, almost perfectly, which makes betting against them on the opening day of the season at home to a newly-promoted club very tricky, even impossible.
Bet on Salah to score first @ 11/4 with bet365 –> ADD TO BETSLIP HERE
Liverpool vs Leeds tips: Top Markets to Choose From
With this match being between the reigning Premier League champions and a newly-promoted club, the odds were always going to favour Liverpool but when you the home advantage to the Merseysiders then you are going to need to be creative with your bets if you want to make a decent profit.
Over 3.5 Goals
Last season Anfield produced an average of 3.58 goals per game and the hosts scored 3 or more goals in nine of those 19 matches, so odds of 11/8 from bet365, 13/10 from 88Sport and Betway for over 3.5 goals to be scored in Saturday's game aren't too shabby. If you want to back at least 5-goals being scored then a whole host of bookmakers are currently offering odds of 3/1.
Bet on Over 3.5 Goals @ 11/8 with bet365 –> ADD TO BETSLIP HERE
Liverpool to Win & BTTS
The market for a home win and both teams to score is offering a decent chance of making a healthy profit this weekend, with Bet365 and Skybet offering 13/8, while William Hil is pricing it at 6/4 and both BetVictor and BetFred have placed odds of 7/4 on that outcome. Liverpool have won four of their last five meetings with Leeds and three of the duo's last five encounters have seen both teams score, so might not be a bad bet after all.
Bet on Liverpool & BTTS @ 13/8 with bet365 –> ADD TO BETSLIP HERE
To Win from Behind
The bookmakers don't fancy outsiders Leeds to score first on Saturday evening. But if you do and think Liverpool will come from behind to win then there are some decent odds that might take your fancy. As things stand, Bet365 are offering 5/1, Skybet have odds of 7/1 and BetVictor have priced Liverpool to win from behind at 15/2. It's worth remembering that Leeds scored a lot of goals on their way to the Championship title last season and often we see newly-promoted teams cause teams problems on the opening day of the season.