Betting tips / Lee Dixon / 11 February 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

In what will be a bad blood game between Manchester United and Liverpool, Lee Dixon is picking the man in the middle of it, Luis Suarez, to kick a goal even if the outcome is a draw.

When I was at Arsenal and we scored with late goals people used to say we were lucky.

It's lucky if it happens once or twice.

When you're consistently doing it, it's because you're the team that has the belief that you can still get something from the game and the fitness to keep going.

We did and so does this current United side.

Next up are Liverpool and a chance for Sir Alex and his old foe Kenny Dalglish to resume hostilities.

Match Odds

A good case could be made for a Liverpool win. Maybe not based on what they produced against Tottenham, where they didn't really create too many clear-cut chances, but rather in terms of their recent performances against United. Opta tell us that Liverpool have won four of the last seven Premier League games against Manchester United overall and also beat the Red Devils two weeks ago in the FA Cup.

But a Liverpool win doesn't seem likely to me.

Opta also tell us that United have won 29 and lost just two of their last 33 Premier League home games, so it's take something outstanding to go to Old Trafford and come back with all three points.

But I do think Dalglish's boys are good for a draw. They've defended well recently, apart from the shocker at Bolton, and don't have many injuries or suspensions to deal with at the moment. With confidence high after knocking United out of the FA Cup, I believe they can get a point and I think they'll see that as a really good afternoon's work.

Over/Under 2.5 goals

I've talked about Liverpool defending well at the moment and that bodes well for under 2.5 goals backers. This may also be one of those matches that ends up being a game of cat and mouse, with both sides waiting for the other team to make the one mistake that would cost them the game. I thought Manchester United's trip to Stamford Bridge would be low-scoring and it ended up being a goal-filled cliff-hanger, but I don't think lightning will strike twice. '1-1' looks a good call on the correct score market at [8.0], but for those already on the draw, the [1.96] on a more straightforward under 2.5 goals bet looks a decent bet.

To Score
Sometimes in football you can just predict how things are going to pan out. I told anyone who would listen a few weeks ago that Thierry Henry would score the winner after coming off the bench against Leeds in the FA Cup. It was just meant to be.

This could be another of those occasions. Luis Suarez makes his first start after an eight-game ban against the team he was facing when he committed the offence that got him banned. Will he make the the most of it by scoring against them? I think it's meant to be and worth backing.

Bookings Odds

It's easy to assume the cards will be coming out left, right and centre in this match. Suarez will be up against Patrice Evra and the players on both sides will feel somewhat obliged to be that little bit keener to make a tackle than they normally would to send out the message that they supported their team-mate all along in this whole affair.

But then again, things might just not pan out that way. The managers may order their players to keep a cool head and the referee may decide to keep the cards in his pocket in the early stages to avoid letting things get out of hand. I may regret this very early on in the match but I think it might pay to go against the crowd and lay 9 points and above at a very short-looking [1.4].

2 pts Back the draw at [3.75]
1 pt Back 1-1 at [8.0]
3 pts Back under 2.5 goals at [1.96]
2 pts Back Luis Suarez to score at [3.2]
1pt Lay 9 points and above in the bookings odds market at [1.4]