Liverpool vs Everton: Preview, Predicted Lineups and Where to Watch Merseyside Derby | OneFootball

The first Merseyside derby of the season is right upon us as Everton make their annual pilgrimage to Anfield on the back of a three-game unbeaten run.

Four games into the season and Everton are sixth in the league after picking up seven points from a possible 12. Following a rather dismal no-show against newly-promoted Leeds United at Elland Road, David Moyes’s side managed to turn things around with back-to-back wins over Brighton and Wolves.

While the Blues kept up the quality of performance against Aston Villa, they were left frustrated and had to settle for just one point at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Despite managing 20 attempts throughout the game, they failed to rattle Emiliano Martinez’s net over the course of 90 minutes.

The need for efficiency in the final third is expected to be central to the team’s pre-match discussions. Everton’s ability to fashion out chances, helped by the arrivals of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish to add to the mercurial talent of Iliman Ndiaye, has been the biggest positive takeaway of the nascent stages of the season so far.

They’ve also been largely solid at the back despite missing star centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite. James Garner has been instrumental, filling in at left-back for the injured Vitalii Mykolenko seamlessly.

Going into the game, the biggest question for Evertonians surrounds the striker and who should start at Anfield. Beto forgot his scoring shoes against Aston Villa and missed a series of good chances. When Beto’s not scoring, he can often be underwhelming.

Meanwhile, Thierno Barry, signed from Villarreal for £27m this summer, has only looked good in bits, but his overall game is far from the demands of a lethal Premier League number 9.

Given the team’s positive start to the season, the form of Grealish and Ndiaye, as well as depth on the bench, Everton should undoubtedly take the game to the opposition as they search for their first win at Anfield since 2021.

Liverpool vs Everton: Team News and Predicted XI

Everton will be without Branthwaite for this game and are expected to miss Vitalii Mykolenko once again. Nathan Patterson and Adam Aznou weren’t “100% match ready” according to Moyes for the last game against Aston Villa and it remains to be seen whether they make it to the squad here.

Iliman Ndiaye was also in doubt for the clash against Unai Emery’s side after Moyes mentioned that the Senegalese had picked up a knock on international duty. However, Ndiaye started and finished the game without any concern.

If Mykolenko is ruled out of this clash, Garner is expected to be deployed at left-back again. However, Merlin Rohl, fresh off a wonderful cameo on his Everton debut, could be a surprise addition in the middle of the park, replacing Tim Iroegbunam as Idrissa Gueye’s partner in the engine room.

Ndiaye, Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall are all expected to start while Beto could receive the nod ahead of Thierno Barry for this clash.

Everton predicted starting XI: Jordan Pickford, Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, James Garner, Merlin Rohl, Idrissa Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish, Beto

Liverpool vs Everton: Head-to-Head and Form Guide

In 246 matches of the longest-running top-flight derby in English football, Everton have won on 68 occasions while Liverpool have 100 victories. 78 matches between the two sides have ended in draws.

The Blues’ last victory against their city rivals was in April last year, when goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed a sweet 2-0 success at home.

They held the opposition to a 2-2 draw in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park last season, memorable for James Tarkowski’s famous last-gasp equaliser, before suffering a 1-0 defeat in the return fixture.

Form Guide:

Liverpool: W-W-W-W-W

Everton: L-W-W-W-D

When is the match between Liverpool and Everton?

Everton will face Liverpool in the first Merseyside derby of the season on Saturday, September 20. Kickoff at Anfield is scheduled at 12:30pm.

Where to watch Liverpool vs Everton?

The Premier League clash between Liverpool and Everton will be available to watch on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate, as is the case with every 12.30pm Premier League kickoff. TNT Sports 1 can be found on Channel 410 for Sky customers, Channel 430 for BT and EE customers and 521 for Virgin Media subscribers.

Those in the UK can also stream the match live on the Discovery+ platform.

Reader Comments (2)

Darren England was on VAR duty for the RS non goal at Tottenham. I hope he doesn't feel he has to make amends.

I was surprised to read this morning that Liverpool still have tickets available for Saturday. The requirement is attending 4 home games last season. Everton have sold out their allocation of course.