As the Premier League returns after the international break, Liverpool will be facing a tough challenge against their Merseyside rivals and league leaders, Everton who have had their best start to a Premier League campaign since their title-winning 1969-1970 season, winning all four of their Premier League games. Liverpool travel to Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon and have a chance to level the league leaders and end their unbeaten run in all competitions this season.
Sadio Mane and new signing, Thiago returned to training on Tuesday after completing their self-isolation periods after recently testing positive for Covid-19, thus handing Liverpool a huge boost.
Jordan Henderson will also be back to lead the team after a small injury which kept him on the sidelines for the last 2 league fixtures. Joel Matip is also recovering from his muscle injury and could return for the derby. However, Liverpool will still be without their key man at goal, Allison, whose shoulder injury can keep him out for 4-6 weeks, thus, we can expect Adrian to continue the goalkeeping duties even after the abysmal displays he has put up in his last few appearances including the 7-2 routing by Aston Villa two weeks ago.
Klopp’s Liverpool have always come back stronger from such scenarios in the past few years, which has made this week’s Merseyside derby one of the most anticipated matches over the past few years as their last 3 meetings at Goodison Park ended in a nil-nil draw. Everton will be high on confidence due to their impressive run, Carlo Ancelotti and Dominic Calvert Lewin winning the Premier League Manager of the Month and Player of the Month awards respectively, and looking to grab their first league win against Liverpool since October 2010. Everton can be expected to field the same lineup however Yerry Mina might be benched due to a thigh injury which could give new signing, Ben Godfrey a chance to step up and impress Ancelotti.
Liverpool had a good start to the Premier League winning all their games, including tough opponents like Chelsea and Arsenal but the performance in their last two matches has been disappointing with Arsenal knocking them out of the EFL Cup and Aston Villa handing them one of their worst defeats in history. Even Leeds United were able to break through their press and backline which shows that teams have started figuring out how to get the better out of Liverpool. However, Liverpool has one of the best managers in the world and the signing of Thiago and Jota can bring some new style of play into a Liverpool side which already has one of the best and balanced teams in the world.
The Premier League has had an exciting and unexpected start with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United performing below expectations and thus even though Liverpool are 5th on the table, have crept past Manchester City as favourites to win the title this season but dark horses Everton could change that with a win on Saturday.
Being knocked out of the EFL Cup, has made Liverpool schedule less hectic as compared to other Premier League challengers but they have a challenging fixture list in the Premier League facing Sheffield United, in-form West Ham who have defeated Wolves and Leicester this season, title rivals Manchester City and Leicester City along with Ajax and Atalanta in the Champions League. Saturday’s performance and tactical changes could set the tone for this string of fixtures. Salah and Calvert Lewin will be on the lookout for goals as challengers for the golden boot race and Thiago will try to establish himself as the key man in Liverpool’s midfield and playmaking.
Recent Form
Everton form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Liverpool form (all competitions): WWWWLL
Predicted Line-Ups:
Everton (4-3-3): Jordan Pickford; Seamus Coleman, Ben Godfrey, Michael Keane, Lucas Digne; Allan, Andre Gomes, Abdoulaye Doucoure; James Rodriguez, Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Liverpool (4-3-3): Adrian San Miguel; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara; Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino
Referee: Mike Dean
Venue: Goodison park
English Premier League, Round 5
Time: 12:30 BST, Saturday, October 17, 2020
