Benteke the best Liverpool bet to banish Britannia nightmare
Published:
In a queer twist of footballing fate, Liverpool revisit the scene of their final-day devastation from last season as they take on Stoke at the Britannia Stadium with revenge in mind.
Logic would dictate that the Potters, 6-1 victors back in May, would be firm favourites to take the points again barely three months after putting the Reds to the sword.
However, while the respective managers still hold the reigns, there will be several new faces fielded by both Mark Hughes and Brendan Rodgers and this seems most likely to have swayed Ladbrokes’ thinking on the match.
Liverpool begin the game as slightly surprising 13/10 favourites, Stoke are 12/5 chances and the draw is a 23/10 compromise.
While Hughes has been busy on the recruitment front, with notable captures such as Barcelona’s Ibrahim Afellay, striker Joselu and former Red Glen Johnson, the sale of Raheem Sterling has allowed Liverpool to really flash the cash.
Desperate to address the dearth of goals which plagued his side last term, Rodgers has invested just over £60m on Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino and Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke.
It’s the proven Premier League potency of the latter which could well set Liverpool on the path to redemption in the Potteries.
Benteke scored 42 top-flight goals in 82 appearances for Villa and blazed his way through the final third of last season, netting 13 times from the beginning of March to lead Liverpool to come knocking.
Having already scored a wonder goal in pre-season, there is no one better placed to ensure Rodgers’ side wipe away the painful memories of their last visit with victory at the Britannia.
Luckily for those Ladbrokes customers who fancy the burly Belgian to do the business, the bookmakers are enhancing a Benteke wincast.
From 8.00 am on the day of the game Benteke scoring as part of a Liverpool win will be boosted from 11/4 out to 7/2.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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