Liverpool will look to get back to winning ways when they take on crosstown rivals Everton in the Merseyside Derby on Saturday afternoon.
Liverpool dropped points against Newcastle United earlier this week, and they will be desperate to bounce back strongly vs Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon. The Reds have a healthy lead over Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in the title race, and they will look to extend their advantage with a positive result here.
Meanwhile, Everton picked up a comfortable victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week, and they will be full of confidence heading into this game. The Toffees will look to the home fans with a morale-boosting victory against their bitter rivals.
It will be interesting to see if Everton can grind out a positive result here. The last time these two sides met in April, Everton picked up a 2-0 win at home. They will be hoping for more of the same. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Everton
Youssef Chermiti misses out with an ankle injury, Tim Iroegbunam also has an ankle issue, and James Garner misses out with a lower back injury. Everton will shape up in a 4-4-1-1 formation vs Liverpool, with Jordan Pickford in goal.
Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko will start as the full-backs. They will look to keep things tight defensively and hit Liverpool on the break. James Tarkowski will start alongside Jarrad Branthwaite in the central defensive pairing.
Jack Harrison and Dwight McNeil will start in the wide areas. They will look to add pace and flair from the wide areas during transitions. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Idrissa Gueye will start in the middle of the park, and they will look to protect the back four and break down opposition attacks. Beto will operate behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the final third.
Probable Lineup (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Doucoure, Gueye, McNeil; Beto; Calvert-Lewin
Liverpool
Liverpool will be without Alisson Becker due to a hamstring injury, while Diogo Jota has an abdominal injury. Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate picked up minor issues last week, and they will miss out as well. Alexis Mac Allister is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Liverpool are likely to shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation vs Everton, with Caoimhin Kelleher in goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson will start as the full-backs, and they will look to help out at both ends of the pitch. Joe Gomez will start alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence.
As for the midfield unit, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch will add composure and control to the side from the double pivot. Dominik Szoboszlai will start as the no. 10 here, and he will look to create goalscoring opportunities in the final third. Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz will add pace, flair and goals from the flanks, with Cody Gakpo leading the line for Liverpool vs Everton.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Gakpo
Key Stats
Liverpool are unbeaten in five of the last six meetings against Everton.
Liverpool have picked up five wins and a draw from the last six matches in all competitions.
Everton have picked up one win from the last six matches in all competitions.
13 goals have been scored in the last six meetings between Liverpool and Everton.
Everton have kept a clean sheet in five of their last seven games against Liverpool.
Liverpool have scored at least twice in their last seven Premier League matches.
Player to Watch
Mohamed Salah
Embed from Getty Images
The Egyptian international remains our key player to watch out for. He has been in unstoppable form this season and he produced another master class against Newcastle during the midweek. The Egyptian international managed to score twice and pick up an assist as well. He will look to open up the Everton defence with his passing, vision and creativity. He will also look to add to his goal tally for the season. Liverpool will need him to step up and deliver if they want to grind out all three points.
Prediction
Everton 1-1 Liverpool
Both teams will be desperate for a victory here and this is likely to be a crunch clash. Although Liverpool are far better on paper and they are in better form, derbies are usually fuelled by emotions and motivation. Everton are likely to put up a strong showing here. It will be difficult to separate the two teams and they could end up cancelling each other out.