Leeds United vs Liverpool Betting Tips (19/04/21) – Quest for the Top Four Begins in Earnest

So, that’s that then.

Try as they might, Liverpool could not find a way past Real Madrid’s metaphorical white bus and the 0-0 draw at Anfield on Wednesday was enough to dump them out of the Champions League.

That’s not to say that they didn’t create chances, and there was definitely a case of what might have been had Mo Salah and Gini Wijnaldum done better with gilt-edged opportunities.

In the end, the Reds ran out of steam and ran out of ideas, and their European adventure is over for another year.

Jurgen Klopp resisted the urge to start Diogo Jota, and you wonder if he regrets that decision now after seeing how Real Madrid set up. The Galacticos looked to frustrate Liverpool with two banks of four, and only occasionally threatened counter attacks of their own with Karim Benzema feeing Vinicius Junior and Marcos Asensio.

In hindsight, Liverpool fielded one defensive midfielder too many, and it took an hour for Klopp to action any change – by that point, you suspect the Reds’ hopes of a remarkable turnaround had all but faded.

In fairness to the manager, it’s not as if his tactics hadn’t worked. If Salah hadn’t missed two point blank efforts, if Wijnaldum had got a cleaner shot away and if Thibaut Courtois hadn’t produced an excellent save to deny James Milner, Liverpool could have been two or three up at half time.

Sadly, champions are not crowned on the back of if’s, but’s and maybe’s.

“You always need the key moments. We didn’t lose the tie tonight, we lost in Madrid,” Klopp confirmed afterwards with more than a hint of regret. “It was uncomfortable for Madrid. We were good, aggressive, had chances. We didn’t score and then the experience of Real Madrid played the tie down. That is ourselves this year with the finishing.

“We know how often Mo Salah finishes these things with closed eyes. Not here. Tonight it was absolutely OK, but we are out.”

Liverpool have to take the positives from the tie and use them as fuel heading into the business end of the Premier League campaign. There is a top four berth very much there for the taking, and the first step is defeating Leeds United in Yorkshire on Monday night.

Liverpool Team News

At this point, draws are no good – Liverpool need to win at least five of their remaining seven games you fancy to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Klopp’s team selection here has to reflect that fact, although he may make changes to help combat Leeds’ all-action style. It’s quite possible that Curtis Jones and Naby Keita could come into midfield – their energy will help to combat the ‘white arrows’ as Leeds’ own midfield tends to bomb forward in numbers.

Bielsa ball also sees the vaunted manager push his full backs on too, and you wonder if Klopp will give Salah the night off and bring Jota in. The latter is a harder worker defensively, and the Egyptian looked a bit frazzled on Wednesday evening.

Leeds United Form

Leeds have been receiving plenty of plaudits this season, and with good reason too.

For most promoted sides, simply avoiding relegation back to the Championship is top of the agenda, and yet here are the Yorkshiremen vying for a top-half finish – and doing so with great style and panache too.

They have scored more goals than any other side outside of the top seven, and head into this encounter off the back of a four-game unbeaten run.

A draw with in-form Chelsea has been followed by a hat-trick of wins over Fulham, Sheffield United and Manchester City – this is not a game that the Reds can afford to treat lightly.

Leeds United vs Liverpool Betting Tips

There have been 98 goals scored in Leeds’ 31 Premier League games so far, and nobody in the division can boast of being that ‘entertaining’ for the neutral.

Mind you, Liverpool’s same number of outings have yielded 90 goals, so the maths reveals both sides are averaging approximately three goals per game.

Unfortunately, the bookmakers can count too and their odds on Over 2.5 Goals – 1/2 – are less than satisfying.

When you compare the match odds – Liverpool are 4/6 to win, Leeds are 11/10 to avoid defeat in the Double Chance market – you would have to argue that it’s Bielsa’s boys who are the smarter play.

But we can get Liverpool on side in another way. It seems almost a given that Jota will start this game, and the in-form frontman is available 5/4 to find the net at anytime here.