Liverpool v Norwich
Premier League – 8.00 pm
Sky Sports
Here it is then. The curtain-raiser to the new Premier League season. It’s all eyes on Anfield on Friday night, as last season’s runners up Liverpool take on newly-promoted Norwich. The Reds were so powerful at home last season in the top flight, remaining undefeated for the entire campaign. They are overwhelming favourites to win this fixture and leading bookmakers have them at 8/11 odds-on even to win to nil, which punters will probably be jumping all over as one of the best bets of the day.
There are certainly enough stats to suggest a home win is going to crop up. The Reds have won ten of the last twelve meetings with Norwich (D2). So there’s that. Liverpool have scored at least three goals in six of their last eight against the Canaries too. Four times in the last six clashes, Liverpool have put five goals past the Carrow Road crew. So this on paper looks as it going to be a tough evening for Norwich back in the top flight.
Norwich played a slick, open game on their way to winning the Championship last season. Daniel Farke’s side looked so good in the second tier, but how will they adapt to life in the top flight? They are the second favourites to take the drop back down to the Championship at the end of the season. They will know that their survival will be based on the points they pick up at home. Any kind of scraps out of a game like this, against a side who went W17 D2 at home last season, would be a massive bonus.
Monaco v Lyon
Ligue 1 – 7.45 pm
BT Sport
The start of the new Ligue 1 season in France is here and there is a bit of a heavyweight clash on Friday to get things going. Lyon were third in last year’s final standings after another very solid season from them. They will be one of the front runners to land a top-four finish in this season’s campaign as well. They are going as favourites at 11/8 with leading bookmakers to win this opener.
That is despite them heading to the Principality to take on Monaco. Whether that favouritism says more about Monaco’s decline than Lyon’s strengths, we aren’t sure. Lyon produced a W9 D5 L5 record on their travels last season in league action but one of those defeats happened in Monaco. Lyon have lost two of their last three against them. At the very least this should be an entertaining game with five of the last six meetings (all competitions) sailing over 2.5 goals.
Monaco were a mess last season. A big one. They were fighting off relegation all season long. The managerial experiment with Thierry Henry didn’t work. So they called back Leonardo Jardim, who Henry had replaced, to save them. Surprisingly the Portuguese went back and did the job of getting them safe just three months after getting sacked. The decline of Monaco started a couple of summers ago with major sales. It caught up with them last season. They avoided the drop by two points only. But the chance of a fresh start is here. A 2/1 underdog home win would lift their spirits.
Leeds v Catalans Dragons
Super League – 7.45 pm
Sky Sports
The end of the regular season in the Super League is on the near horizon. There is plenty of work to do by the Catalans Dragons to ensure that they lock down a top-five finish to get through to the knockout stage of the season. They are currently holding down fifth heading into the weekend, but have Salford and Castleford breathing down their necks. So the French side need to keep the pressure on as they head to Leeds.
The Dragons took a hammering last time out, going down 40-14 at the Salford Red Devils. They had won their two league games before that though over Huddersfield and Wakefield. Just back at the end of June the Catalans Dragons faced the Rhinos and lost 31 -12 at Headingley. In the first meeting between them this season in March, the Dragons posted a 26-22 home win over Leeds.
At this stage of the season, it is the Dragons who have a lot more to play for. The two teams have similar records in terms of points scored/conceded. However, Leeds are six points adrift of the playoff spots, which is probably too much to make up. It was only back in their win over the Dragons at the end of June that the Rhinos climbed off the bottom of the Super League table. Leeds are the odds-on favourites in the match outright to win though, with the Dragons at 10/11 in a +16 handicap.
