We knew we probably wouldn’t make it through the Christmas period without getting our pants pulled down by the punters and here’s their shot.
After a bumper day of horse racing and football yesterday, 17 punters are today hours away from the wager of a lifetime. It comes in the wake of a mental day of Premier League action, which has carried the most players in history through to the final leg of our £250,000 Hotshot Jackpot game.
It all rides now on this evening’s live kick-off at 5.15pm between Liverpool and Stoke at Anfield, as our players need one of five players from the home side to hit the back of the net in order to scoop the gigantic pot.
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The stats make some brilliant reading for our punters. Liverpool have scored in eight of their last nine Premier League outings and in all except one of their seven home games in the league to boot.
Stoke could well play the Christmas Grinch however, as Mark Hughes’ men have kept three clean sheets in their last five games. But, their past six meetings against Reds have seen them come away with just a single victory – Liverpool have swept the rest. See punters, there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful!
After bravely scratching and clawing their way through seven rounds of Hotshot Jackpot with late, late goals from the likes of Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud in the 87th minute and West Ham’s big Andy Carroll in stoppage time, our players have only one more hurdle to leap for £250,000.
Here’s what they need to happen:
- Five players have their hopes hanging on Roberto Firmino. The Brazilian has found the onion sack five times this season, but he’s mind may be elsewhere after being charged with drink driving on Christmas Eve.
- Four players want Divock Origi to find the back of the net. He’s in brilliant form, scoring four since coming in for the injured Philippe Coutinho in late November.
- A further four players are in need of a Sadio Mané goal. He may be on his way to the African Cup of Nations next month, but he’s had some involvement in eight of the last nine Liverpool goals – scoring five of those and assisting the other three.
- Two players are looking for a gift from Daniel Sturridge. The England striker is yet to score this campaign, but it was his effort that led to the derby winner against Everton and you’d expect to see him on the pitch at some stage tonight.
- A final two players a seeking a lesser spotted strike from James Milner. The versatile winger was at one stage Liverpool’s top scorer from left back this season – all five of his tally coming from the penalty spot.
Whatever happens our jackpot will be split if it’s won, but it’s up to Liverpool to decide how many slices of delicious money are handed out.
For our punters the Reds really can provide a late Christmas miracle. Best of luck to all involved!