Liverpool and Everton lock horns in the 241st Merseyside derby this weekend, with the Reds looking for a third win in eight days to really kick the season into gear.
Jurgen Klopp‘s men couldn’t have left it later against
Newcastle in midweek, as
Fabio Carvalho‘s 98th-minute volley sealed a gritty 2-1 win.
Next up is the short trip across Stanley Park to face an
Everton side who are still without a
Premier League win this season.
Everton survived relegation by the skin of their teeth, with some raucous Goodison atmospheres proving key in the end.
Their 2022/23 league campaign has started in similarly uninspiring fashion, however, with three draws and two defeats to date.
Only a late Demarai Gray equaliser earned them a point at home to
Nottingham Forest earlier in the month, while a 2-1 loss at struggling
Aston Villa was disappointing, too.
The Blues look like genuine relegation candidates on current form.
Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are two English footballing greats given their success as players, but management is going less impressively.
The Liverpool legend seems relatively close to getting the sack at Villa, and Lampard arguably should be no different – he certainly would be if his name was Rafa Benitez.
Granted, it hasn’t been all bad, but no wins and some dour football mean he is under pressure.
A heavy defeat to Liverpool this weekend would really put Lampard under the spotlight.
Everton have no fresh injury concerns, so Lampard will likely field a similar starting lineup to the one that drew 1-1 away to
Leeds on Tuesday night.
Experienced new signings James Tarkowski and Conor Coady will continue at centre-back, with young right-back Nathan Patterson coming up against
Luis Diaz.
The returning Idrissa Gueye could come straight into the starting lineup, although a substitutes’ role seems more likely. The same applies for fellow new arrival James Garner, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Neal Maupay start.
Anthony Gordon is a man in form who will cause
Trent Alexander-Arnold problems on Saturday, and he is likely to be joined by Dwight McNeil in attack.
Yerry Mina, Ben Godfrey, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend are all out.
Predicted Everton XI: Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Coady, Mykolenko; Onana, Davies, Iwobi; McNeil, Gordon, Maupay.
Jordan Henderson is Liverpool’s latest injury absentee, with the captain expected to be out for a number of weeks with a hamstring issue.
He joins
Ibrahima Konate,
Thiago,
Naby Keita and
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the treatment table.
On the plus side,
Darwin Nunez is available again after completing his three-match ban, while
Diogo Jota is “
probably” going to make the squad, according to Klopp.
There could be a few tweaks from the
Newcastle game, with Klopp no doubt wary of overplaying certain individuals.
Andy Robertson looks a jaded figure at the moment and could easily make way for
Kostas Tsimikas, while
Joel Matip may come in for
Joe Gomez.
New signing
Arthur Melo is unlikely to be involved due to not receiving international clearance.
James Milner is favourite to replace the injured Henderson.
In attack,
Roberto Firmino is expected to be retained after a return to form, meaning Nunez is used as an impact sub.
Possible Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson;
Fabinho, Elliott, Milner; Salah, Diaz, Firmino.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Klopp discussed new signing
Arthur in glowing terms:
“He’s a really good footballer, I think we all agree on that. He’s had a very exciting career already and he’s still pretty young. He’s coming into the best age for a footballer.
“He can give rhythm, he’s a really good passer of the ball, has speed with the ball, is safe on the ball, and can demand rhythm, which is pretty important, really good in tight areas and all these kinds of things, so I like it a lot.
“Why can you loan a player like this? Because it didn’t work out 100 percent at Juventus, but I see it as a positive because the potential is for sure still there.
“We play obviously a different to Juve and we all thought that could fit pretty well, so that’s why I’m pleased.”
Liverpool’s 4-1 win at Goodison last season was superb, but it is an anomaly of a result.
The Reds have found it extremely difficult to win consistently at the home of their local rivals, even in the Klopp era.
In fact, four of the last five Goodison meetings have ended in draws, three of which were instantly forgettable 0-0 stalemates, in 2018, 2019 and 2020
Looking futher back, there have been eight draws in the last 10, further showing how much form can go out of the window in this fixture.
Everton may be struggling, but Saturday will be another real test of the Reds’ credentials.
Firmino has found his touch again in the final third this season, registering six goal contributions (three goals, three assists) at an average of one every 50 minutes.
Surprisingly, though, the Brazilian has always found it tough in clashes with
Everton, never scoring against them in his career.
That’s a total of 12 matches, with two assists coming his way in that time.
Saturday would be a perfect opportunity for Firmino to end his
Everton hoodoo – god only knows what his celebration would be if he scored a last-minute winner!
Anthony Taylor is the referee for Saturday’s game, with the Manchester-born official not exactly universally popular on Merseyside.
That being said, Liverpool didn’t lose any of the five league games he took charge of last season, which included the 5-0 win at
Man United and 2-2 draw away to
Man City.
Meanwhile, Darren England is on VAR duty, hopefully avoiding any controversial decisions, as was so painfully the case at Goodison back in October 2020.
Everton vs. Liverpool is live on BT Sport 1 from 11.30am (BST). Kickoff is at 12.30pm.
As usual, TIA’s unashamedly biased matchday live blog will be running, with
Henry Jackson keeping you company from 11.45am.
Come on you Reds!
