Merseyside Derby Draw At Anfield On Saturday

It’s the first Merseyside derby of the season and neither side come into the game high in confidence…

Form
Liverpool required an epic penalty shoot-out to edge past Middlesbrough in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night as a much-changed XI were held to a 1-1 draw in normal time and then 2-2 in extra time.

The result comes on the back of consecutive Premier League defeats at the hands of Aston Villa and West Ham, with a fortunate last-gasp Champions League victory over Ludogorets sandwiched in the middle. These are worrying times for Brendan Rodgers who is quickly coming to terms with the reality of Luis Suarez’s departure.

The Reds have won only three of seven league and cup games this season and have not won a Premier League game this month. Defensive issues, which were offset by the goals of Suarez and Daniel Sturridge last season, remain a major problem with just one clean sheet this term. Raheem Sterling is the club’s top scorer with three goals.

Everton also struggled in midweek as they lost 3-0 at Swansea in the Capital One Cup, having previously gone down 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.

Back-to-back wins over West Brom an then Wolfsburg in the Europa League had suggested that the Toffees were ready to kick start their campaign. But just one clean sheet in seven matches shows that the defensive problems in Liverpool are not exclusive to the red half of the city.

Romelu Lukaku has scored two in his last two Premier League games, but Steven Naismith remains the club’s top scorer for the campaign with three.

Team News
Glen Johnson, Emre Can, Jon Flanagan and Joe Allen are all definitely out for the home side, while Jordan Henderson (hip) and Philippe Coutinho (groin) will be assessed ahead of the game. Daniel Sturridge has been back in training for a week and could return to the starting XI here.

Ross Barkley is now Everton’s only long-term injury problem as both Bryan Oviedo and Darron Gibson returned to the side in midweek following extended lay-offs. Seamus Coleman and Steven Pienaar are both doubtful.

Head-to-Head
Liverpool won 4-0 when the teams met at Anfield last season thanks to goals from Sturridge (2), Suarez and Steven Gerrard, while Suarez and Sturridge were on the scoresheet again in a 3-3 draw at Goodison Park; Romelu Lukaku (2) and Kevin Mirallas scoring Everton’s goals on that day.

Three of the last four meetings between the two teams have ended in draws, but Everton haven’t won at Anfield in 16 league and cup meetings since 1999.

Recommended Bets
Five of the last six head-to-heads have produced more than 2.5 goals and odds of 6/10 on this one going the same way – given their respective defensive problems – looks nailed on. Both meetings last season saw four or more goals and Over 3.5 goals is priced at odds of 29/20 here.

The Match Odds betting has the hosts priced at odds of 4/5, with Everton at 31/10 and the Draw is 3/1. As I stated last week in my preview of their game against West Ham, this is not the time to be backing Liverpool at odds-on prices. The draw looks a very good bet at 3/1, as does the Evens about Everton or Draw in the Double Chance market.