With nine matches left in the season in the Premier League season, every race is still up in the air.
Only three points separate the first three clubs at the top of the table: Liverpool (67 points, +40 goal difference), Arsenal (65 points, +46 GD) and Manchester City (64 points, +35 GD).
And the battle at the bottom is just as chaotic.
Five teams – Brentford, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town and Burnley – are trying to avoid being relegated with Sheffield United, which appears a sure thing at this point.
In weekday matches, all three title contenders are overwhelming favorites, two against teams in jeopardy of being sent down after the season.
Here’s a look at one of those matches: Liverpool vs. Sheffield United (2:30 p.m. ET Thursday, Peacock).
| Liverpool | Sheffield | Draw | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| -1100 | +2200 | +1100 | 4.5 (+120/-165) |
It will take a minor miracle for Sheffield United to stave off relegation this season.
The Blades currently sit on 15 points from 29 matches and have three wins on the campaign.
No team has allowed more goals than Sheffield United’s 77 (2.66 per game) and only Luton Town has conceded more expected goals. The Blades are -10000 to go down.
That said, they have shown some signs of life of late. Chris Wilder’s side has drawn its last two matches and it wasn’t like it was playing other relegation contenders.
Both Bournemouth and Fulham had been in good form before getting humbled a bit by the Blades.
Getting a couple of draws against mid-table sides is nothing to be parading about – especially after Sheffield United was drubbed, 6-0, by Arsenal in its previous match.
But those are the slivers of hope you cling to when you’re trying to come up for a reason to back the massive-underdog Blades to win at Anfield on Thursday.
The three-way moneyline price should be much higher.
It’s always fun to throw a couple of bucks on a +2200 underdog in a single match, but this is one of the worst defensive teams in Premier League history going against one of the best attacks in the world.
Just because I’m not endorsing a bet on the underdog doesn’t mean we can’t have a little bit of fun.
Sheffield United’s attack was miserable for the first four months of the season, but the Blades have shown some more punching power of late.
They scored two or more goals in six of their last 11 matches (they were shutout in each of the other five), and their underlying metrics have improved since Wilder took over in December, Ben Brereton Diaz joined the club and Oliver McBurnie got healthy.
Plus, it’s not like this Liverpool defense is infallible. The Reds have conceded first in three of their last four matches and were trailing at halftime to Luton Town just a few weeks ago.
Liverpool plays with a ton of risk and knows it can outscore its problems, which can lead to some chaos, especially in the beginning of games.
Rather than throw up a prayer that Sheffield United can pull the stunner, back the Blades to score first or, if you’re feeling frisky, on the first-half moneyline.