Andy Holding & Tom Love's Horse Racing & Football Double

SOLDIER OF DESTINY (NAP) (best price 6-4) created a really favourable impression with the manner of his victory at Ffos Las last time out and with today’s extra yardage threatening to bring about even further improvement from Jamie Snowden’s gelding, confidence is high that he can continue on an upward curve.
A point winner over 2m5f back in November for old connections, the son of Presenting returned to the same Welsh venue having shaped well on rules debut at Hereford and following heavy market support, he duly made no mistake. Always catching the eye with the way he jumped and travelled 23 days ago, the further he went the better he looked, and with the speed figure and subsequent of the third and fourth giving the race a solid feel, a raise to 131 seems more than fair. Clearly benefitting from recent wind surgery, this strappy chaser has all the attributes to really make a name for himself at this discipline and with testing ground seemingly not a problem based on his most recent display, the six-year-old should prove hard to beat over a track that will suit his galloping nature.

Newly crowned League Cup champions Liverpool are backing in Premier League action on Saturday evening and Jurgen Klopp will be well aware of the heavy schedule his side have faced and will continue to face given their efforts in the FA Cup and the Champions League. 

Could we see the Reds adopt a slightly more pragmatic approach with that in mind? They did only get past Norwich by a single goal midweek and with an important second leg against Inter Milan coming up midweek it could be a case of trying to control the game without exuding plenty of energy. 

It’s difficult to see past a home win here though given the sheer domination Liverpool have shown at Anfield, not only in recent months but generally since Klopp came to the club. It’s just a case of how do you get them onside at a palatable price when you delve into the betting markets. 

West Ham have been quite inconsistent of late and were dumped out of the FA Cup midweek against a second-string Southampton side. David Moyes admitted his side were second best in that game, despite Moyes fielding his strongest eleven. They could therefore come into this one with some fatigue, especially with a long trip up to Merseyside just three days after that clash on the South coast.

Moyes may well try to set up his side in a compact shape but Liverpool are far ahead in terms of squad depth and quality and should have enough to get a win. You can get 11/8 about the home side to win and under 3.5 goals and considering they’re rarely conceding on home soil in the league it should stand a strong chance at a nice quote.