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| Image via thisisanfield.com |
Injury news has been the top story for the Reds this week as over the past 24 hours Kopites were made aware that Daniel Sturridge has in fact picked up a hamstring injury. The severity of the injury isn't clear but it's a worrying time for Liverpool fans who find their patience levels wavering. Also unavailable for the Reds is Mamadou Sakho and Philippe Coutinho, however the latter did return to training on Wednesday.
For FC Sion they are unable to call upon Birama Ndoye who is suspended for this fixture. Moussa Konate has a fractured hand and so will not feature in this clash. There is also a doubt hanging over Martin Zeman who suffered an ankle injury recently.
The Reds first meeting with FC Sion in this year's Europa League back in October ended in a 1-1 draw. The teams have met just twice prior to this with Liverpool winning on both occasions and scoring a total of eight goals in the process.
Liverpool have won four out of their last six fixtures in all competitions but recently faltered at St James' Park in a 2-0 loss at the hands of Newcastle. FC Sion on the other hand have recorded just one victory in their last six in all competitions; a 2-0 win over Luzern in the Swiss Super League.
I'm not sure what to expect from Thursday's game to be quite honest, the performance against Newcastle was definitely one to forget and it's hard to predict the line up/mentality of the team considering the fact we have already secured progress. In theory it should be all three points for the Reds but without a supply line or supporting striker for Benteke and the missing flair of Coutinho, it may be difficult to find the back of the net.
Going off on a bit of a tangent, I've often mentioned placing bets in my match previews as I'm sure you will have noticed. I'm not a seasoned gambler, far from it but I do work in the industry part-time and have done for eight years, I have quite a bit of knowledge and you can usually find me popping a few quid on Liverpool games and accumulators. For that reason, I thought I would try to introduce a new section to my previews taking a look at the betting options for the game so here goes nothing...
Betting
Liverpool are definite favourites going into the game with Paddy Power and William Hill both offering odds of 13/10.
As for goals, the majority of the bookies are going with 9/2 for Christian Benteke as first goalscorer. If you fancy adding him to a 2-0 you can get odds on that scorecast of 30/1 with Paddy Power.
Divock Origi is likely to feature in the game and if you fancy a repeat of his hat trick against Southampton you can get odds of 80/1.
For scorelines, Ladbrokes are offering 5/1 for a 1-1 draw. A 2-1 Liverpool win is down as 8/1 with SkyBet and if you're feeling really optimistic several of the major bookies are offering 18/1 for a 3-0 win for Jurgen Klopp's side.
Keep an eye on my Twitter, I'll let you know what I bet on.
Enjoy the match folks, wherever you are watching!