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Liverpool v Napoli Odds: Home side strong favourites for Europa League match

Liverpool are strong favourites for their Europa League tie against Napoli on Thursday night, with Roy Hodgson expected to field a near full strength side. Livepool will be desperate to secure a win and go a step closer to progressing from their Group so they can concentrate on reviving their fortunes in the Premiership. Their odds of securing the win is 5/6 with Paddypower.com, while Napoli are 10/3 and the draw is 5/2.

Roy Hodgson has said he will field a strong starting 11 and feels his side only require 4 more points from their remaining three matches to progress from Europa League Group K. They currently top the group after 3 matches, and they drew 0-0 with Napoli in their last game at the Stadio San Paolo. They fielded an experimental side that included the likes of Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey, but if Hodgson is true to his word this time round the likes of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard can be expected to start.

Torres has struggled for form this season after a woeful World Cup from a personal perspective, but he is a best price with Paddy Power bookmakers to be the first goalscorer against Napoli with odds of 4/1. At 4/1 he might just be too good to ignore to turn his and Liverpool's season around, and finally ignite what has been an unusually subduded season from him so far. Alternatively Paddypower.com offer best price odds of 6/5 for Torres to score anytime. Fellow striker David Ngog is 6/1 with PaddyPower to notch the first goal and he will be hoping that Hodgson shows faith in him as he has scored 5 goals in Europe already this season.

Hodgson will definitely have to do without Dirk Kuyt, Joe Cole and Daniel Agger while Sotirios Kyrgiakos is a doubt. Glen Johnson could return from injury on Thursday night, but there may be a risk of some of their top players getting injured with a crunch clash against league leaders Chelsea in the Premiership coming up on Sunday.

Napoli are currently fifth in the Italian Serie A and they are yet to lose a game away from home, so will go into the match feeling quietly confident of causing an upset and heaping more misery on Roy Hodgson and the Anfield faithful. They are not the same calibre of side that witnessed the magic of Diego Maradona in their side in the late 80s but they are a team very much on the up after a very successful return to Serie A just a few years ago.

The Naples side include former Liverpool man Andrea Dossena, who will probably be best remembered by Liverpool fans for the screamer he scored for them against bitter rivals Manchester United. He will no doubt be hoping to get one over on his former club, and with the likes of rumoured United transfer target Marek Hamsik and Uruguayan Edinson Cavani in their side they are not to be underestimated. Cavani's odds to be the first goalscorer are 13/2 with Paddy Power and he is currently Napoli's top scorer with four goals this season, or alternatively he is 21/10 to score anytime.

Napoli have drawn all three of their Europa League matches so far, and the draw on Thursday night is offered at a best price of 5/2 by PaddyPower. But it would seem that Liverpool are the more likely winners and a look at the correct scoreline of 2-1 at odds of 7/1 appears to represent good value. If Liverpool can get the win, it will be seen as another step in the right direction as they look to recover from a horrendous start to the season, but anything other than a win will heap yet more pressure on Hodgson ahead of a tough fixture against Chelsea at the weekend.

Liverpool v Napoli Form Guide

Check out the latest statistics for this season for both Liverpool and Napoli, which include all results, goalscorers, league tables plus up to date betting odds on the match from the best UK and Irish bookmakers.

Liverpool Stats | Napoli Stats

Liverpool v Napoli Tips

Selection 1: Liverpool to win 2-1 @ 7/1
Selection 2: Fernando Torres to score first @ 4/1
Selection 3: Edinson Cavani to score anytime @ 21/10

Liverpool v Napoli Betting

Liverpool v Napoli Match Odds

5/6 Liverpool
5/2 Draw
10/3 Napoli

First Goalscorer Betting

4/1 Torres
6/1 Gerrard
6/1 Ngog
13/2 Cavani
8/1 Lavezzi
8/1 Pacheco
9/1 Hamsyk
10/1 Eccleston

Correct Score Betting

1-1 Draw 11/2
1-0 Liverpool 11/2
2-1 Liverpool 7/1
2-0 Liverpool 15/2
0-0 Draw 8/1
1-0 Napoli 10/1
2-1 Napoli 12/1
2-2 Draw 13/1
3-1 Liverpool 14/1

Odds provided by paddypower.com Bookmakers who will be running a LIVE in-play market for this Champions League match.

Posted: Wednesday, 3rd November 2010
Author: Chris James
Tags: europa league, liverpool, fernando torres, steven gerrard, paddypower,

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