Liverpool reaching for the top against struggling Cardiff

Liverpool will go top of the Premier League if they can beat Cardiff at Anfield in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off and with the form they are in at the moment, it is difficult to envisage any other outcome.

Coral go 2/9 Liverpool, 12/1 Cardiff and 5/1 the draw and there will be plenty of punters willing to wade into the home side after such an impressive run of outstanding results.

The Reds have been scoring for fun this past month, notching up four goals or more in five of their last eight fixtures, including their last three.

And in Luis Suarez, they have by far the most potent striker in the Premiership – 17 goals in just 11 games since he returned from suspension at the end of September. There simply isn’t a better goalscorer around at the moment and you have to go back to Matt Le Tissier to find a regular scorer of better goals. He’s just 2/5 with Coral to be on the mark again and, to be fair, you would be surprised if he wasn’t.

Still only 26, Suarez is already Uruguay’s all-time leading goalscorer and will be looking forward to doing England some damage at the World Cup next summer, but in the meantime he now seems committed to spearheading a Liverpool title challenge (7/1 with Coral).

With away games against Manchester City and Chelsea next on the agenda and Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge currently sidelined with injury, it is important for Liverpool that they pick up three points here.

We have seen enough shocks in the Premier League this season to know never to have your mortgage on any team beating any other, but logic says that Liverpool will beat Cardiff and beat them comfortably.

Another 5-0 win following their demolition of Spurs at White Hart Lane is 18/1 with Coral and might be asking a bit too much, but something like 3-0 (6/1) could be on the cards.

Cardiff’s narrow victory over West Brom last weekend was extremely welcome after a poor run of results, but with owner Vincent Tan unpopular with fans and publicly criticising manager Malky Mackay over a transfer policy issue, the Welsh club do seem to be one step away from disarray.

Mackay is not about to resign, by all accounts, but this is a situation that has to be resolved one way or another sooner rather than later and the market says that it will end with the Scotsman leaving his post.