December 4th – Silva lining for Everton in derby?

The Merseyside Derby is always a spicy fixture to be involved in.

But with the added seasoning of Marco Silva’s future and Liverpool’s near-perfect form, it seems as if the 234th edition could concoct the Vindaloo of all clashes in recent years.

It would have to go far to beat some of them though.

Lest we forget the last-minute bedlam caused by Divock Origi, Sadio Mane, Phil Jagielka and Daniel Sturridge in the past decade, with the former coming a year ago this week.

Since that fateful winters evening, Origi and his troops have won the Champions League, finished on 97 points and already accumulated 40 this term – safe from the drop.

Silva’s men have just 14 – a total leaving them one above the relegation zone, and leaving a previously sought-after manager under severe pressure.

Two factors do favour Everton on their quest for a first win at Anfield this century though.

Their best two performances under Silva last season came in the Merseyside derbies. One could argue that they deserved six points out of six, but due to poor luck and lack of ruthlessness, they left with just one.

And the fact that although Liverpool have won 13/14 matches and continue to scrape wins, they are not performing fluidly or in fact well in most matches.

Alisson will be missing after his somewhat instinctive handball against Brighton too. If there’s a chance for the manager to prove himself as capable, it’s now.

Liverpool come into it after grinding out yet another 2-1 win, their seventh this season, at Anfield against The Seagulls. For those stat nerds out there, the record is 10 in one season, held by the Arsenal invincibles (Duncan Alexander).

Two headers from Ballon D’or runner-up Virgil van Dijk gave the Reds the three points, with Lewis Dunk grabbing a consolation for the visitors.

Everton narrowly lost out 2-1 to Leicester after Kelechi Iheanacho’s 94th minute winner was rectified as a goal by VAR.

Richarlison had opened the scoring for the side in Peach pink, with Jamie Vardy levelling after 68 minutes.

With the added narrative of the recently drawn F.A. Cup tie at Anfield in little over a month’s time, it will be interesting to see whether we will see a different face in the Toffees’ technical area in the two matches.

Team news

The hosts are without suspended Alisson Becker, Joel Matip, Nathaniel Clyne and key defensive midfielder Fabinho for the Derby, with Xherdan Shaqiri expected to feature on the bench like he did on the weekend.

Everton are stricken with the long-term injuries to Andre Gomes and Jean-Phillipe Gbamin, whilst Theo Walcott, Seamus Coleman and Fabian Delph could return.

From the Dugout

Under pressure manager Marco Silva on the impact of a victory:

“It would have a very good impact, no doubt about it.

“It will not wipe out anything we did in the last one and a half, two months, but it will be very important for us.

“It can change [the feeling from]the last result, it can give us the chance to get points which we need and for sure it can give confidence to our players.

“It’s a fantastic game to play. Of course we’d prefer to play in our stadium, but they have to enjoy.

“It will be a tough game, is it will be for all clubs who visit them. Let’s go there to play.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on Everton’s form:

“The table tells the full truth at the end of the season. If you go through the Everton squad nobody denies it’s a really good squad.

“They have difficult injuries, especially the Andre Gomes one. Fabian Delph too is a very important player for them.

“There is a lot of pressure, of course, Everton is an ambitious club, rightly so. They are not the only ones in this situation, this league is really different for everyone.”