The Merseyside Derby is on the way. It’ll take place this Saturday at the Goodison Park, the home ground of Everton. The hosts seemingly have no major motivation in this game, apart from ruining the plans of their arch-rivals. Liverpool, on the other hand, need to win this match in order to stay in the race for the 2nd spot in the Premier League. If you want to place some bets on the Everton vs. Liverpool game, make sure first to check out this match preview!
Everton vs. Liverpool Match Preview
Everton
Right now, the Toffees are at the 9th place on the Premier League table. What this means is that they’re at a safe distance from the relegation zone. At the same time, they’re pretty far away from the positions that lead to one of the major European competitions. That’s why you might think that they’ll have no motivation in this duel.
But, considering that this is one of the biggest derbies not only in England but the whole world, we must assume that it’s going to be interesting. I’m sure Everton will give their best in this game, especially knowing that this is by far their greatest challenge until the end of the season. After the duel with their city-rivals, Everton will play five more games, each of which is against an opponent from the bottom half of the table.
Another thing going in their favor is that they’ve been playing well in from of their crowd. At the Goodison Park, Everton have won 9 out of possible 16 games this season. What’s worrying them is that they have some injury worries. A couple of their regulars will probably have to miss this game.
Liverpool
Similarly to Everton, the Reds also have a few injured players in their team. Obviously, their biggest worry is the injury of their best player, Mohamed Salah. He got injured earlier this week, in the Champions League duel with Manchester City, which his team won 3:0.
The chances are that Salah will have to sit out this game, which can be a serious blow for Liverpool. He’s been their top scorer this season. Actually, with 29 goals to his name, he’s currently the top scorer in the Premier League. Apart from that, Salah is also the player with the most assists in Liverpool.
So, who’s gonna replace him? Well, in the duel with Man City, he was substituted by Georginio Wijnaldum. I can see the Dutch midfielder starting the Merseyside derby, although I think Klopp will play him in the middle of the pitch, while Oxlade-Chamberlain will take Salah’s place.
But, will this work? Can Liverpool do without their best player? Well, they did well when he was injured the last time. In fact, they won both games they played without him at the beginning of the year. One of those was the match with Everton, which Liverpool won 2:1.
Team News
Everton absentees:
- Gylfi Sigurdsson (injury)
- Eliaquim Mangala (injury)
- James McCarthy (injury)
- Mason Holgate (injury)
- Maarten Stekelenburg (injury)
- Idrissa Gueye (doubtful)
Liverpool absentees:
- Adam Lallana (injury)
- Joel Matip (injury)
- Emre Can (doubtful)
- Joe Gomez (doubtful)
- Ragnar Klavan (doubtful)
- Mohamad Salah (doubtful)
Possible Lineups
Everton:
Pickford – Keane, Jagielka, Coleman, Baines – Schneiderlin, Rooney, Calvert-Lewin – Walcott, Bolasie, Niasse
Liverpool:
Karius – Van Dijk, Lovren, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson – Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum – Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mane, Firmino
Everton vs. Liverpool Match Prediction
The Merseyside derby is almost always a very close duel, especially when played at the Goodison Park. In fact, in four out of five previous matches in which Everton was the host, we saw a draw. Still, I don’t think the same is going to happen this time. It won’t be easy for Liverpool, but I think they’ll take all three points at the end.
Everton vs. Liverpool Betting Tips
- Liverpool @1.90 (bet365)
