Luke's Football blog

History of the Merseyside Derby

The Merseyside derby has been a fixture of English football for 129 years now, with the first fixture being in 1894. This is a battle between two clubs separated by Stanley Park. This is going to be a key fixture for both clubs as they both haven’t performed to the best of their ability this season, which has shown with both of them falling above expectation.

Form going into the game

Liverpool are yet to record their first win in the Premier League this year, which is poor for the side who were two games away from doing something no English team has done before, but could this be the game it all changes for them? Everton go into the game on the back of a memorable win against table-toppers Arsenal, and they will hopefully want to build on that result as they try to escape relegation.

Tactical Analysis

Despite the fact that it hasn’t worked as well this season, Liverpool will stick with their system, which will look like a 4-3-3 with the same back line and the only change being in midfield as Thiago is rumoured to be out for four weeks with a back injury. For Everton, it looks like it will be an unchanged squad as they will hopefully want to build on the performance against Arsenal, with Dyche possibly playing a 4-5-1 as it worked well against Arsenal, and they would want to dominate the midfield again, especially since that is Liverpool’s weak spot.

Key Battles

The key battles will be Gomez and Matip against Calvert-Lewin, who will want to score more as he only has one goal to his name this season. Another key battle will be McNeil vs Trent, which will be a huge battle because McNeil has gotten past Trent before for Burnley, so he would hope to do the same for Everton, and with Trent not being in good form this season, it’s possible that he could get the job done over him again. 

Predicted line ups

These will probably be the line-ups for the game, as Liverpool will possibly make one change in midfield as Thiago is rumoured to be injured for Liverpool. Everton will probably go unchanged as it was a good performance against Arsenal, and now that the team has the belief and confidence, it will probably be the same as last game, with them hoping to dominate possession in the middle of the park.

My Prediction

I think it will be a close game that ends in a draw as both teams will be up for it, and with key points at stake, it will be a good game that ends 2-2 with Everton equalising in the last minute with a Coady header to take all three points away from Liverpool. It could go either way, as both teams are desperate for points to improve their league position after falling short of expectations.