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Everton visit Anfield on Wednesday evening in the first Merseyside derby of the season. Marco Silva will reportedly still be in charge for this game, despite weeks of speculation regarding his future. Make sure to check out the Toffee TV YouTube channel for more Everton news:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBLQXimXy_w
Although Everton displayed a slightly improved performance at the weekend, a last-minute Leicester winner denied Everton the draw. Silva’s side have now lost 8 times in 14 league games, and are 17th in the table.
Meanwhile Liverpool sit at the top of the Premier League, and have won 14 consecutive league games. Out of 14 league games, they’ve won 13 and drawn just 1 (scoring 32 and conceding 12). Klopp’s side have won all of their last 5 league games, scoring 11 and conceding 5.
As well as the difference in quality between the two rivals, Everton’s away record is very poor, with 5 losses, 1 draw, and 1 win in 7 league away games. This, combined with Everton’s record at Anfield, makes for a very difficult game on Wednesday night.
In the last 5 Premier League Merseyside Derbies at Anfield, Everton have lost 3, and drawn 2. These results were 1-0, 1-1, 3-1, 4-0, 1-1. In fact, Everton haven’t beaten Liverpool since 2010, and haven’t won at Anfield since 1999.
Although everything points towards a Liverpool win, Klopp’s side haven’t been blowing teams away. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 league games 2-1. Holding on to a 1-1 draw is a possibility, and would be a great result for this struggling Everton side.
Suggested Line-Up:
Because of the change of formation against Leicester working reasonably well, Silva may opt for this. However, this 3-man defence setup may struggle with the wide players that Liverpool have. It could create overlaps with Robertson and Mane outnumbering Sidibe, and Alexander-Arnold and Salah outnumbering Digne. Having said this, Man Utd successfully utilised a 5-man defence against Liverpool in their 1-1 draw. If this formation is played, Silva must ensure the full-backs are helped by the wide players in front of them. This is a big game for Iwobi, who must create in-behind the Liverpool midfield. This should be helped by the absence of Fabinho.
Score Prediction: Liverpool 1-1 Everton
Obviously this is an optimistic prediction, but could happen with Liverpool conceding 1 goal in all 5 of their last league games. However Everton tend to struggle after conceding, and so it’s important they don’t concede early on.
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BILLY MINSHALL