A day before the 47th Merseyside Derby in Premier League era at Goodison Park,where the old foes Liverpool and Everton are going to have face-off, memories of Steven Gerrard hat-trick against his neighbouring ‘’blue noses’’, Luis Suarez’s brilliant treble, Jagielka’s last moment screamer are being crowded to the psyche of Merseysiders and football fans.Gerrard will be missed to the core, as few local lads with raw passion are taking part in it.
Traditionally, this derby is called as friendly derby since 1955, but the stats say otherwise. Among all the derby matches of England, in this ‘Merseyside Derby’, the highest number of red cards has been shown, a baffling 20. Between both teams, Liverpool has won more matches(88), with Ian Rush being the top scorer(25).
Currently in the PL table Everton is sitting pretty at 5th place, with 1 more point than Liverpool(9th). Plus, Everton are buzzing with confidence after their morale-boosting 3-2 win over West Brom, despite being 2 down. Lukaku was the hero of the match.The fact that this 47th derby is being played on Goodison Park will lessen the pressure on Rodgers and Liverpool, as of late Liverpool has struggled at Anfield.
Everton has a potent side, that can win over this out-of-form Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers has to take the blame, as his mindless, poor tactics and habit of playing players out of position is costing LFC matches after matches.
Everton has Gerard Deulofeu, a fantastic player to build up play from the wide, they have Ross Barkley, the key man in their midfield, who has created 2.1 chances per 90 minutes this season. The frontman Lukaku should be taken care of by Liverpool centre-halves, otherwise LFC will have really long time at Goodison.
Everton coach Martinez was very humble in today’s press conference, showing respect to Liverpool, branding LFC as the favourites. Roberto Martinez confirmed that Besic will miss out, with Stones and Coleman’s fitness being assessed on the matchday. Insiders reveal that Stones might play.Everton new man Funes Mori is determined to win the derby ,so is the veteran Goalie Tim Howard, who says ‘’blood and thunder’’ to be expected. Brendan Rodgers sounded as cocky as ever, talking about ‘’favourites tag’’,’’confidence’’,’’quality’’,’’opportunity’’,’’tough game’’ etc. Very predictable from BR.He tried to shrug off the pressure of ‘’BR-OUT’’ cries by saying he is not seeking assurances from the owners. Seemingly, he has more lives than a cat. If Liverpool manage to churn out a win in this derby due to Sturridge or Coutinho’s individual brilliance, BR will look smug ‘’I am the same guy who nearly won the title’’. If LFC loses the tie, he will say ‘’it’s not about me’’.
Predicted lineups:
LIVERPOOL(3-4-1-2):MIGNOLET(gk), SAKHO, SKRTEL, CAN(3 centre backs), CLYNE (right wingback), MORENO(left wingback), LUCAS, MILNER (CMs), COUTINHO (cam), STURRIDGE, INGS (2 strikers)
EVERTON(4-2-3-1):HOWARD(gk),STONES,JAGIELKA,FUNES MORI,GALLOWAY(4 defenders),McCARTHY,BARRY(2 CMs),DEULOFEU,BARKLEY,NAISMITH(3 attacking midfielders), LUKAKU(striker)
REFEREE: MARTIN ATKINSON
Time and Date: Sunday,1.30PM BST
Venue: Goodison Park
Predictions- We are predicting a Liverpool win. 2-1 in favour of the Reds is our call.
Betting odds- Bookmarkers are rooting for an Everton win. Here are the betting odds-
Everton win @2.70
Draw @3.40
Liverpool win @2.80
So, you can actually get a good reward for putting your money for any result.