ENGLAND: Premier League
Date: 01-12-21
Time: 21:15 PM
Venue: Goodison Park (Liverpool)
Goodison Park hosts the 239th Merseyside derby, in a long-running saga that splits entire families within a city that lives for football. Everton ran out 3-0 winners here in the very first H2H (Oct 1894), but Liverpool have gained a firm upper hand since that inaugural battle, dominating the all-time record (W95, D76, L67).
Those donning the blue of Everton may be feeling blue themselves, as they’re winless in their last seven Premier League (PL) outings (D2, L5), so the chances of them going four derbies unbeaten for the first time since April 1996 seem remote. History still beckons though, with the ‘Blues’ yet to win successive H2Hs in the PL’s 29-year lifespan.
Everton boss Rafael Benítez hasn’t enjoyed facing his previous employers though, and he is winless in six prior fixtures against Liverpool since his departure from the club in 2010 (D3, L3) – with October of that year marking Everton’s most recent home win over the ‘Reds’!
Just over nine months since the end of Liverpool’s longest unbeaten H2H streak in history (W11, D12), Jürgen Klopp’s men are overwhelming pre-match favourites, and travel with a swagger in their step only a 10-0 aggregate scoreline over their last three matches will give you. In fact the league’s highest scorers have scored 2+ goals in all but one of their PL matches this term, en route to netting more than double Everton’s goal tally.
Liverpool will be confident they’ll avenge the 3-2 loss to West Ham in their last away trip, since it was their first loss on their PL travels since February (W10, D2). Klopp has poked fun at the physicality of the Merseyside derby before, but the passion is rooted in the numbers, as no other PL fixture has produced more red cards than the 22 between the blue and red halves of Merseyside!
Players to watch: The last recipient of those red cards was Everton’s Richarlison in October 2020 – he’s scored eight of his previous ten club goals at home, while Diogo Jota has netted eight of his last nine Liverpool goals before half-time.
Recent Stats:
- Everton’s form in last 5 matches: LLDLL.
- Liverpool’s form in last 5 matches: WWWLW
PREDICTION: Away and Over 1.5
