Liverpool’s last-ditch winner against Newcastle at Anfield in midweek gave them an extra dose of confidence in taking on winless Everton in the Merseyside derby.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had to come from behind to take all three points in the 2-1 win over the Magpies in a dramatic way whereas Everton could only draw with Leeds unable to hold onto their lead in the first half.
EVE vs LIV Match Details
Date: Saturday, 3 September 2022
Time: 12:30 (BST) / 17:00 (IST)
Venue: Goodison Park, Everton
EVE vs LIV Match Preview
Frank Lampard’s side have neither shown instances of losing a game nor winning it as Everton shared the spoils for the third game in the same 1-1 score-line. Against Nottingham Forest, the Toffees had to come back to rescue a point while they failed to sustain their lead against Brentford and Leeds in the midweek. Anthony Gordon found the spark of productivity in him by scoring in the last two games assuring the manager that his head is not turned by the Chelsea bids that were rejected by the club. Everton manage to hold on to their attacking prospect who became a menace for Liverpool in the last Merseyside derby beyond the deadline day which can be classified as their success. That and their key summer signings, two on the deadline day in the form of young James Garner and the returning star Idrissa Gueye, have given signs the club won’t flirt with relegation places again. For that, they need to search for their first three points this season as these draws will taste more than a defeat if wins don’t come by. Only Leicester City have registered few points than Everton, languishing in the 17th spot on the Premier League table with three points on board equal to Wolves and Aston Villa. Lampard doesn’t want a fiasco like last season with more productive signings this time around wishing to guide the club at least in the top half of the table in this campaign. The manager will be turning to Gordon to prevail in his scoring streak and sink Liverpool to gain their first victory on board. A mammoth task to achieve referring to their below-par record in this fixture by securing only one win in the last 23 meetings and none in the Goodison Park since 2010. Everton have also failed to score more than once in the last four games of this season and haven’t scored at all in three of the last five Merseyside derbies. Liverpool have also grown a tendency to concede the first goal of the game lately but Everton themselves haven’t taken the lead in the derby other than the win at Goodison, mentioned, over a decade ago. In all, this will be a huge ask from Everton to take full points out of this Liverpool team even not being at their fruitful best.
It was crazy scenes at Anfield after Fabio Carvalho gave full points to Liverpool rescue by scoring from the last kick of the game from a corner. The Portuguese youngster blasted in a loose ball not cleared by Newcastle at the far post in added time when the Reds looked set to drop points for the fourth time this season. Liverpool fans expected domination of a similar nature which annihilated Bournemouth in the record win last weekend against a stringent Newcastle only to see the Magpies club record signing, Alexander Isak opening the scoring in the first half on the back of some loose defending and a pass gave away by Alexander-Arnold. Then the game for Liverpool was simply to turn it around forcing them to work hard to break a solid defense yet finding the result in the end. Roberto Firmino, dazzling in his recovered form, made the score line equal on the hour mark to help the Reds in due course. Amid the Euphoria, Liverpool were struck with another injury blow in Jordan Henderson making more shortage in the midfield area although Harvey Elliot and Fabio Carvalho’s growth has been promising to make them a future stand in midfield. The loan signing of midfielder Arthur Melo is just an emergency addition for the short term and Liverpool aren’t admiring him as a serious option. Keeping out the negatives, Klopp will be happy the team is slowly getting their old rhythm back of turning games even when things are not right and two wins in the bag can push them to be more consistent. Manchester City have already made a steady start to the campaign and Liverpool will refuse to extend a huge gap between them considering the fixture congestion and the World Cup disruption to come. A win will leave them only two points off their title rivals momentarily this early in the season. Jurgen Klopp’s side has taken just one point out of two away games this season so there is a chance to rectify that in their trip to Goodison Park for the first Merseyside derby of the 2022/23 season against Everton. The problem is, other than their superb 4-1 win in their rivals’ backyard last season, the Reds have shared spoils in eight of the last 11 meetings at Goodison and including the win last year, have won here only twice since 2016. A further drop of points over here will make Liverpool their worst start to the season in terms of away form for over a decade. Conceding the first goal in eight of their last nine matches is also something Klopp will wish his side to change sooner rather than later.
Recent Form (League)
EVE: DDDLL
LIV: WWLDD
EVE vs LIV Team News
Everton have no fresh injury concerns to deal with from the 1-1 draw against Leeds in the midweek although manager Frank Lampard will ring chances after deciding against any substitution in the game. One of those changes can be new signing Neal Maupay from Brighton may start up front after finally completing his registration in place of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, continuing to be on the sidelines with a knee injury. Returning to the club from PSG, Idrissa Gueye wishes to be involved in some periods of the Merseyside derby as the pair of Amadou Onana and Alex Iwobi looks irreplaceable in the middle of the park. Talented midfielder James Garner, bought from Manchester United in a $17m deal, is also pushing to make his Everton debut this weekend. Yerry Mina, Ben Godfrey, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend are all absent.
Rivals Liverpool have their fair share of injuries to tackle at the start of this season and another midfielder has added himself to the list. Club captain Jordan Henderson was replaced in the last grasp 2-1 win against Newcastle with a hamstring injury that will keep him out this month initially thought to be a normal substitution. The Reds were forced to make a loan move for Juventus’s outcast Arthur Melo as an emergency fill-up in the midfield position stricken by injuries to Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago Alcantara already. Curtis Jones recovered to make the bench in midweek and has made himself an option in the middle of the park for this one but it is likely Fabio Carvalho will start after scoring a fabulous winner against Newcastle in a string of excellent performances. Joel Matip was also an unused substitute in the last game following his return from a groin issue and could slot back into the starting lineup for the derby replacing Joe Gomez. The rest of the team from the stunning victory on Wednesday night should remain intact. Forward Diogo Jota is sidelined through thigh injury with an expectation the Portuguese will return in the next games. Darwin Nunez has completed his suspension period since being sent off in the game against Crystal Palace but will be available from the bench as Roberto Firmino in hot form has jeopardized the Uruguayan’s starting spot in the team.
EVE vs LIV Predicted Lineups
EVE: Jordan Pickford; Nathan Patterson, Conor Coady, James Tarkowski, Vitalli Mykolenko; Dwight McNeil, Tom Davies, Amadou Onana, Alex Iwobi, Anthony Gordon; Neal Maupay
LIV: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Harvey Elliott, Fabinho, Fabio Carvalho; Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Luis Diaz
EVE vs LIV Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Pickford
DEF: Patterson, Van Dijk, Tarkowski, Robertson
MID: Iwobi, Elliot, Carvalho
FW: Salah, Firmino, Gordon
Captain: Mohamed Salah
Vice-captain: Roberto Firmino
Andrew Robertson scored a goal in the 2-0 win in the derby at Anfield last term. He also delivered 2 assists in the reverse fixture at Goodison and another one in the meeting in 2020 at this ground.
Alex Iwobi has created 10 chances for Everton, more than any other player in the team with a rate of 2 per 90.
Fabio Carvalho has scored in his last two games for Liverpool and ranks second in the team in terms of shots on target with 2.6 and shots per 90 with 6.1. Only Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland have more in the Premier League.
Roberto Firmino has 6 goal contributions in the last two games for Liverpool but has not made any in the last five games away from Anfield.
Mo Salah has already made 4 goal contributions this season and has 4 goals and an assist in seven Merseyside derbies he has played so far. 3 of those have come in the last two derbies hosted in Goodison.
