Liverpool v Man Utd
Premier League – 4.00 pm
Sky Sports
It is a mouth-watering rivalry at the best of times and the big feature of the Bets of the Day for Sunday dials in on Anfield. It’s Liverpool v Man Utd time! The weekend will see Manchester United having a massive test of character as they look to avoid a chasm opening up between themselves and Liverpool. So this rivalry has a new spice to it. It’s usually a battle between two sides scrapping for prominence near the top of the league table. This time around it sees title-contenders Liverpool looking for points against a Manchester United side who are already well-adrift of the top six.
Manchester United are sixteen points behind Liverpool and have just the one win in their last five league games (D3 L1). Their defence has had massive struggles this season and are taking on a Liverpool side brimming with confidence. Will Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho be able to come up with a master plan to stifle the Reds? They are 5/1 general underdogs at top bookmakers in the match outright. Liverpool are on a five-match winning streak in the league and are the only remaining unbeaten side in the EPL. They are unbeaten in 28 league home games now and have conceded in just one of their last 12 league home games. Will they be able to deliver on their 4/7 odds favouritism at Anfield?
Hibs v Celtic
Scottish Premiership – 12.30pm
Sky Sports
There was a profitable weekend for Celtic last time out. They jumped to the top of the table as they beat the then-Premiership leaders Kilmarnock 5-1 at Celtic Park. That was a big show of intent from the reigning champions. It leaves them two points clear of rivals Rangers at the top of the pile. Plus Celtic have games in hand over everyone else. It’s not a bad position for them to be in. They hit the road this weekend to visit Easter Road and take on Hibs. Celtic are only W1 D2 in their last three away games.
Does that open the door for Hibs to avoid defeat? The draw is a general 10/3 odds option at the leading bookmakers with Celtic the odds-on favourites. Hibs have only been beaten once this season at a home in a W3 D3 L1 record. They have averaged almost 2.5 goals per home game. Given that 71% of their home fixtures have ended over 2.5 goals, then the over/under 2.5 goals market comes into play well for this game. Hibs took four points from their two home league games against Celtic last season. Can the Hibees frustrate them again?
Newcastle v Edinburgh
European Cup Rugby – 3:15 pm
BT Sport
It is a straight out battle for top spot in Pool 5 of the European Champions Cup at Kingston Park on Sunday. Edinburgh are the leaders heading into the weekend with a three-point advantage being held over the Falcons. This is matchday four of the campaign and it will be the reverse of last weekend’s meeting. In that game, the Scottish side made a pretty big statement at Murrayfield. They ran out 31-13 winners over the Falcons, limiting the visitors to only the one try and three kicks. Edinburgh meanwhile ran up four tries in the match, helping them land the winning bonus point as well. So another win for the Falcons will guarantee that Edinburgh stays top with two to play.
Newcastle have to come up with a big answer here now. It’s getting to the point of all-or-nothing. The biggest problem that the Falcons will have is in trying to break the very stern Edinburgh defence. They didn’t get much change out of them last weekend and will have to come up with a new game plan in a game on home soil. This is a game which Newcastle really can’t afford to lose. Given the occasion, the bookmakers are expecting a tight game with only a -3 handicap on Newcastle at 10/11 odds. It is the Falcons who are favourites on home soil in the match outright. How badly they need to make amends for last weekend’s loss north of the border.
