The Pay As You lay Column: Liverpool and Chelsea to be stopped in their tracks

Premier League / Andrew Atherley / 16 October 2009 / Leave a Comment

Jamie Carragher is one of the top defenders in the country but Sunderland' forward partnership of Kenwyn Jones and Darren Bent have 12 goals between them this term and should keep Carragher and his pals pretty busy on Saturday afternoon.

"Steve Bruce’s new, improved Sunderland gave Manchester United a real fright at Old Trafford before the international break and Liverpool will find it hard to contain Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones, who are the Premier League’s top strike force with 12 goals between them."

Every week Andrew Atherley will be selecting three odds-on shots worth laying. But there's a catch: he only gets paid by betting.betfair.com if at least two prove to be winning bets. Here is this week's offering..

Lay Chelsea at [1.85] v Aston Villa

Chelsea have been shortening this week, but there is little value in backing them now for this trip to their bogey ground (one win in their last 10 visits). Last season they won fewer than half of their away games against top-half opponents (four out of nine), though they have won their only match in that category so far this season (3-1 at Sunderland).

Chelsea conceded first at the Stadium of Light, however, and there have been more worries about their away form with recent below-par performances at Wigan (3-1 defeat) and Apoel Nicosia (even though they won 1-0). This is usually a tight fixture and, unless Chelsea break their trend by scoring early (their earliest away goal in the Premier League this season came in the 39th minute) they could really struggle to come back from Birmingham with all three points in the locker.

Lay Liverpool at [1.97] v Sunderland

The big four acca could be in double jeopardy on Saturday, as this looks a more difficult fixture for Liverpool than it has been in recent years. Liverpool have won their last six Premier League matches against Sunderland without conceding a goal, but those games were against the old Sunderland.

Steve Bruce's new, improved Sunderland gave Manchester United a real fright at Old Trafford before the international break and Liverpool will find it hard to contain Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones, who are the Premier League's top strike force with 12 goals between them. Liverpool have yet to keep a clean sheet on the road this season and they are playing a team in better form than either Bolton and West Ham, where they won 3-2 but only after a few scares along the way.

Lay Napoli at [1.65] v Bologna

Naples is an intimidating place to visit, but the current Napoli side often gets priced according to their name more than their achievements, and that looks to be the case again for Sunday's match.

Napoli won only just over half of their home games last season and this season's two home wins were against Siena and Livorno, who are both in the bottom four. Okay, so Bologna are fifth-bottom, but Napoli are only one place higher and Bologna's form is more solid than their league position indicates - Milan are the only side outside the top six to have beaten them. This fixture was 1-1 last season and, with Napoli regressing (five wins from 28 games in 2009), Bologna have a decent chance of getting something again.