Premier League leaders, Liverpool take on their struggling cross-city rivals – Everton at Anfield in the first Merseyside derby of the season.
A win would see Liverpool maintain their comfortable lead at the summit, whilst Everton at least one point or they will slip into the relegation zone if Southampton beat Norwich.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesAlisson won’t feature for Liverpool after he was sent off during Saturday’s home win over Brighton for handball.
Joel Matip and Nathaniel Clyne are still absent with knee injuries, whilst Fabinho (ankle) is also ruled out.
Everton could welcome Theo Walcott back after he missed Sunday’s defeat at Leicester through illness.
Seamus Coleman (undisclosed) and Fabian Delph (thigh) won’t be risked until the weekend, whilst Andre Gomes (ankle), Jean-Phillipe Gbamin (muscle) and Cuco Martina (knee) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 19 meetings against Everton (W9, D10).
- Everton have failed to score in their last three Merseyside derbies since losing 2-1 in January 2018 in FA Cup Third Round.
- The Toffees last won at Anfield in September 1999 and are winless in 21 visits across all competitions since then (D10, L11).
- Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is just one of two players to have made 1000+ passes in the opening 14 games, alongside chelsea’s Jorginho who has 1,002 passes in comparison to van Dijk’s 1,033 passes.
- Jordan Pickford has made four catches this season compared to just three in the entirety of last season for Everton.
Prediction
Everton produced a decent performance on Sunday but two brilliant goals from Leicester denied them at least a point, which would of put them in a positive mood ahead of this fixture.
Liverpool meanwhile made hard work of beating Brighton but I can see them hitting back with a clinical display, if they can rip Everton apart like Leicester did in the second-half.
This is a derby though which will play a factor as form goes out of the window but I fancy Liverpool to take a comfortable win, because this Everton team don’t look strong enough to score in a game like this.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Everton
Result: Liverpool 5-2 Everton