It may be now or never for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to find their spark in hopes of climbing up the league table as they welcome Everton to Anfield for the Merseyside derby on Monday.
Liverpool sit 10th in the standings, yet to win a league game since the turn of the year, and find themselves 12 points adrift of fourth-placed Newcastle United with two games in hand.
A poor string of showings from the Reds has been subject to much criticism from a large section of the Anfield faithful and the pressure on Jurgen Klopp, who remains the Liverpool board’s man to steer the ship away from troubled waters, is higher than ever before.
Klopp’s men have failed to perform at the highest level and the Liverpool manager himself has been criticised for the decision to sign Dutch winger Cody Gakpo in the January transfer window rather than bring in a new midfielder for his squad.
Coming agonizingly close to claiming an unprecedented quadruple less than a year ago, Liverpool were a shadow of that side last time out in a 3-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers and the upcoming contest against city rivals Everton provides them with the chance to set things in order.
Everton’s trip to Anfield on Monday would be the first away game in the dugout for the new manager Sean Dyche who led his new troops to a memorable 1-0 win over the league leaders Arsenal.
That result ended a 10-game winless run for the Goodison outfit and they would head into the Anfield showdown with the confidence of causing another major upset against a struggling Liverpool side.
WHEN & WHERE?
Date: Monday 13 February 2023
Time: 8 PM GMT
Venue: Anfield
TEAM NEWS
Diogo Jota would be set for his return to the Liverpool squad after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury and having the Portugal forward back would be a huge boost for Jurgen Klopp.
The Liverpool manager will be hopeful of issuing recalls to both Roberto Firmino and Arthur Melo with the Brazilian duo back in full training.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, however, remain injury concerns for the Reds which means that Joe Gomez is likely to partner up with Joel Matip once again in the heart of the defence.
Thiago Alcantara has been dealt another injury setback while Columbian winger Luis Diaz also is on the sidelines for the derby clash.
KEY BATTLE
Darwin Nunez vs James Tarkowski
Nunez is a certainty to lead the line for an injury hit Liverpool side and the club record signing will hope to improve upon his recent displays in front of the goal.
A stellar display against Everton could make his case for a regular spot on the team sheet going ahead with Nunez set to face competition for the No.9 role from the returning Firmino and Jota.
Everton’s defensive mainstay James Tarkowski will be tasked with keeping Nunez and Co. in check and the former could make things difficult in the opposition box from set piece deliveries.
MATCH PREDICTION
Liverpool’s winless fortunes in the Premier League this year could be set for a much awaited end with the home side favourites for Monday’s tie.
Liverpool 2-1 Everton
