The fixture among these two sides was commonly known as 'the friendly derby' but the Merseyside Derby has seen more red cards than any other premier league clash. Merseyside will polarise into red and blue as Everton host Liverpool tomorrow. This will be the 225th time that the Liverpool and Everton lock horns with each other. This match is an all-time great given that both the clubs have tremendous history.
The Toffees go into this game being labelled 'favourites' and they will be desperate to register their first derby win in 5 years. The derby rivals are separated by just one point in the table with Everton sitting comfortably above Liverpool at the seventh place with twelve points. Everton look well developed this season with the likes of Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku bettering.
Brendan Rodgers claimed there was a certain hysteria around him last week when they defeated Aston Villa 3-2. Liverpool have been unable to find themselves in the ideal form but with Daniel Sturridge back in the side there will surely be a difference in the way they play and finish to get those crucial goals that they so desperately need. The Reds are currently placed ninth in the table with eleven points from seven fixtures.
Date : 4th October
Kick-off : 1:30 PM GMT
Venue : Goodison Park
Form
Everton (all competitions) : WDWDWW
Liverpool (all competitions) : LDDWWD
What the managers say
Brendan Rodgers : "We arrive into every game and our work is very much balanced in terms of the offensive and defensive side of our game.
"So it's about cutting out the mistakes, that's key for us to not concede.
"But also in the same token, we respect and understand that every opponent that we play is really fighting and working as hard in our game as they do in any game.
"When the chances come along, we have to take them. The game last night we had something like seven clear cut chances and we're getting punished for little defensive mistakes and obviously we're looking to improve that ratio of taking our chances.
"We go into the game with confidence, we've got quality in the team and we'll look to take those chances while remaining solid defensively."
Roberto Martinez : “When you go into these kind of games, it matters what you can do in the 90 minutes.“We have shown a little bit of form with the way that we have started and the way that we have played - and that could see us as favourites.
“But if you are looking at the amount of money the two teams have spent in the last three seasons - clearly, they need to be the favourites and carrying expectations.
“I don’t think you can take much going into the game. It’s all about how you adapt as soon as that first whistle goes.”
Team News
Seamus Coleman and John stones remain in doubt with their respective injuries, the boss will wait until the day of the game too see if they will be able to play against Liverpool.
Baines (ankle), Besic (hamstring), Pienaar (hamstring), Cleverley (ankle) will remain sidelined for this clash while Bryan Oveido is back and Mirallas will be unable to feature as he is serving the last of his three game ban.
For Liverpool, Firmino, Henderson (foot), Lovren (ankle) and Flanagan (knee) are ruled out of this clash. Christian Benteke remains doubtful with a hamstring problem.
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