Football Acca Tips: Klopp's side to reign victorious against Gunners again in 10/1 double

The hectic fixture schedule continues this week with plenty of action from around the continent on Thursday evening. There’s three games from England in the Carabao Cup fourth round alongside four La Liga fixtures, as well as a flurry of Europa League qualifiers. 

I’ve had a delve into the betting markets for Thursday night’s fixtures and have picked out two selections that I like the look of, as part of my football tips for bettingodds.com. The double has been boosted by those good folk over at Paddy Power, paying 10/1. The same selection is 7/1 elsewhere so I’d definitely advise using the Irish bookie for this one.

Liverpool and Barcelona both to win & both teams to score - 0.5pts @ 10/1 Paddy Power

The first of the two games that I’ve dissected is Liverpool v Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. I’m going for Liverpool to win the game and both teams to score, which is currently priced at 5/2 as a single. 

This will be the second time in four days that these two sides have met at Anfield. The match on Monday night ended in a 3-1 victory for Liverpool in a game which they dominated in spells, racking up 21 attempts on goal in comparison to just four from Arsenal. 

There will most certainly be plenty of changes for both sides in Thursday night’s game with Diogo Jota expected to make his full debut for the hosts after coming off the bench to score on Monday. Curtis Jones, James Milner and Takumi Minamino could all start the game for Jurgen Klopp’s side. 

Arsenal will also rotate plenty and will look to Nicholas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah to be the main threat going forward for the Gunners. Liverpool have only lost three home games in all competitions since 2018 and with a record like that, I want Klopp’s team onside for the win, even with a weakened starting eleven.

Games against Arsenal have thrown up plenty of goals in recent years, with the most memorable of those coming in the League Cup last season with a thrilling 5-5 draw. I don’t think it will be quite that scoreline on Thursday but I can see a wide open game with plenty of goals on the agenda. 

The deciding factor here may come from Liverpool bringing on second half substitutes such as Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah to help bolster their attack. Arsenal can score here though and have done in eight of their last nine outings on the road. 

Verdict: Liverpool to win and both teams to score.

The second half of Thursday evening’s double comes from Galicia in Spain where Celta Vigo host Barcelona. I’m opting for both teams to score once again in this game but with Barcelona to come out as the eventual winners.

It’s been well-documented what a turbulent summer it has been at Barcelona. Lionel Messi looked poised to move to Manchester City, saying he no longer wanted to play for the club only to make a u-turn on his decision. They have also seen the departures of Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Surarez who all left the Catalan giants for a combined fee of less than £1.5m. 

Barcelona did start their La Liga campaign with a convincing 4-0 thrashing of Villarreal, with Ansu Fati netting himself a brace at the tender age of 17. Ronald Koeman’s second game in charge will be away to Celta Vigo and I can see him making it two from two.

Lionel Messi converted from the spot at the weekend and has hopefully put this summer’s events to the back of his mind and with him and Antione Griezmann in attack I think there should be plenty of goals. Barcelona have scored at least two goals in five of their last six matches against Celta Vigo and despite the hosts being unbeaten in their opening two games Barcelona should come out on top.

Celta Vigo can get on the scoresheet though and there’s plenty of reasons to believe they will. Impressively, they have scored at least two goals in five of their last six home matches against Barcelona in all competitions. Iago Aspas scored 14 goals for Vigo in the 19/20 La Liga season and he looks set to be their biggest threat in front of goal. 

As I mentioned above, this double is currently best priced with Paddy Power who have given it a generous boost up to 10/1. You can view Liverpool v Arsenal live on Sky Sports, kicking off at 19:45pm. Best of luck to those following, and please always remember to gamble responsibly.