Liverpool v Udinese: Home win to nil on the cards at Anfield
Published:Liverpool broke their Premier League duck in some style last time out and, courtesy of this, should be buoyed ahead of Udinese’s visit to Anfield.
They’re 8/13 to record their second win on the bounce and the Italians have struggled to get going this term after overachieving in 2011/12.
Udinese have won just the solitary game in nine this term – 2-1 against nine-man Milan – and crashed out the Champions League in the play-off stage. Goal-scoring is their issue as it appears talisman Antonio Di Natale’s age is finally catching up with him.
He came off the bench to net his team’s injury-time leveller in their opening Europa League match, yet with two goals in their last four games, it doesn’t appear that Francesco Guidolin has unearthed a suitable replacement.
By contrast, Liverpool have notched 13 in their last four, scoring five on two separate occasions. This new-found potency makes them a good bet to win to nil at 2/1, whereas Udinese’s lacking in firepower makes a home clean sheet good value at 11/8.
Italian sides haven’t fared very well on the red half of Merseyside in the past decade, with Fiorentina the only one of five sides to pick up the win at Anfield, as opposed to Napoli, Inter, Juventus and Roma, who were all defeated.
Udinese’s woeful form points to them becoming the fifth representative from that nation to be despatched by Brendan Rodgers’ team, who are likely to keep faith with the youngsters who were so prolific in Bern in their first group game.
All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date
