Sports Blog 13/10/2017: Football Preview – Premier League, Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th October 2017

Will Saturday see Jurgen Klopp celebrate his 2nd year anniversary at Anfield with a victory over Man United, at 12.30pm on Sky Sports?

The Reds have been incredibly inconsistent season, no better captured than that soaring 4-0 victory over Arsenal at the end of August being followed by a 5-0 hammering at Man City 2 weeks later. Yet that perhaps paints too dramatic a picture; Liverpool have actually drawn 5 of their 12 competitive games in 2017/18 so far (5 in 10 if you strip out the 2-legged Champions League play-off).



In contrast Man United have been magnificent. They’ve won 9 of their 11 games in all competitions, scoring 33 goals while conceding just 6. Romelu Lukaku is responsible for exactly a third of that tally, and he also has 7 in 7 in the league. Arguably, however, United are yet to face a real challenge – that is beyond Real Madrid in the Super Cup final, which they lost. They’re in a soft Champions League group, and of last season’s top 7 they’ve only played a freefalling Everton.

Both sides have lost players across the international break. But while Jose Mourinho has plenty of cover for Marouane Fellaini, Klopp may notice the absence of Sadio Mane, who faces 6 weeks on the side-lines, a bit more. On top of that Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino will likely be dealing with fatigue after travelling all the way back from Chile after Brazil’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying win on Tuesday.

Despite divergent form, and the differing health of the squads, the magnitude of this fixture makes it too hard to call, with Spreadex offering a choice Liverpool/Man United Goal Supremacy spread of -0.1-0.1 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.55-2.75.

Saturday afternoon then sees Watford attempt to keep their place in the top half of the table when they host Arsenal at 5.30pm on BT Sport 1. The Hornets have had a very respectable start to the season. They’ve only lost one league game – admittedly it was an excruciating 6-0 humiliation at home to Man City – while winning 3 and drawing 3 (including that opening thriller against Liverpool).

As for the Gunners, they’ve been on the up and up of late. A pretty miserable August led to a far better September, with no goals conceded in the league and 2 broadly convincing wins in the Europa League. October got off to a decent start as well, a relatively routine 2-0 win over Brighton, something that should continue on Saturday, with Spreadex offering an Arsenal/Watford (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.9-1.1 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.05-3.25. It'll also be interesting to see if Wenger plays Alexis Sanchez, who has a Super Mega PGM of 33-39, or whether he'll rest the Chilean after the long-haul return from the international break.

Finally Sunday sees a mid-table scrap between Southampton and Newcastle, at 4pm on Sky Sports. The Saints really struggled in September, losing to Watford, Man United and Stoke while picking up a solitary win over Crystal Palace, which really (really) isn’t much of an achievement at the moment.

The Toon, meanwhile, have been a bit all over the place. Opening losses against Tottenham and Huddersfield were following by a really strong run of wins over West Ham, Swansea and Stoke. Then Newcastle went and lost to Brighton – meaning they’ve been beaten by both of their fellow Championship promotees – only to nab a draw against Liverpool. It remains to be seen which Toon turn up on Sunday, with Spreadex offering a Southampton/Newcastle Goal Supremacy spread of 0.55-0.75 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.35-2.55.