Eliminated early in the League Cup, Liverpool were unlucky in setting up clashes for their FA Cup debut. It will face this Friday, January 5, precisely Everton, its biggest local rival. The match is part of the third round of the oldest club tournament on the planet and will also be the first of the blues. At Anfield Road, the duel begins scheduled for 5:55 pm (GMT).
The competition has a different regulation. If there is a winner, the setting takes place in a single game. If the confrontation ends tied a new meeting will be held, but this time with inverted field control. This rule, called a replay, is not valid for the second game. Even if you have to resort to the 30-minute overtime and penalty shootout, it will reveal the survivor in the cup dispute.
Liverpool’s recent performance
Liverpool have not lost for more than two months. He made 16 matches in that period having won 11 of them and tied in five opportunities. The most recent success was dramatic. On Tuesday, January 1, the team opened their campaign in 2018 by beating Burnley 2-1 at home. The winning goal was scored by defender Ragnar Klavan (14 games in English Premier League 2017/2018, one goal) in the 51st minute of the second half. He became the first Latvian player to swing the networks in the Premier League.
As the English Championship title dispute does not seem to be a viable goal at the moment, Liverpool, which has 44 points (12 wins, eight draws and two losses) in the tournament, 18 less than the leading Manchester City crowns his hope of reaping trophies in the 2017/2018 season.
In the League Cup, however, it disappointed to be eliminated just in its debut. In the third round of the tournament, it took 2 to 0 of Leicester. Thus, only the English Cup and, of course, the European Champions League, where the club have secured their berth in the last 16, will have Porto ahead of them.
That should cause coach Jurgen Klopp to put on the field this Friday the best team that has at hand. If the documentation is regularized in time there is even the possibility that the Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk make his debut. The club has disbursed about $ 330 million to get him out of Southampton promoting the most expensive bargain in a defender’s history.
He had reason to make that investment. With 25 goals conceded, Liverpool perform far below the acceptable level in the Premier League. However, there is a need for a deeper analysis of this number. At home, the reds have a spectacular defensive performance. In 11 games, they suffered only four goals. Away from home, however, the average 0.37 goal taken / match raises to 1.9. The team took 21 goals in 11 bouts.
Thus, the biggest concern of the match is in relation to two players who, injured, were left out of the game against Burnley. They are Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho (14 matches, seven goals) and Egypt striker Mohamed Salah (21 matches, 17 goals). They depend on new tests to see if they will be released.
In the case of Brazil midfielder there is still a second problem. He would be negotiating with Barcelona. This happened already in the beginning of the season and while it was in conversation with the Barça, the athlete, alleging contusion, did not participate of the matches of Liverpool.
The current form of Everton
After hiring veteran coach Sam Allardyce, leaving the relegation zone and scoring an unbeaten run of eight games (five wins and three draws), Everton lost their breath on the final stretch of the English Premier League finale marathon four rounds in about ten days.
The Liverpool blues lost to Bournemouth as visitors, 2-1, and took 2-0 of Manchester United at Goodinson Park. Stacked in the 27 points (seven wins, six draws and nine losses), they only remained in ninth position because their closest rivals did not get good results in the period.
Outside their domains, Everton has not been a major threat to their opponents. In 11 games played in this situation in the current season of the Premier League only managed a victory. With five draws and five losses, it appears only in the sixteenth place in the leaderboard that takes into account the results of the teams as visitors.
History of the matches Liverpool vs Everton
The 1-1 draw at Anfield Road on 10 December for the English Premier League has extended to 15 the series of matches in which Liverpool is not beaten by its local rival. Although long, the roster is made up of draws rather than wins. There were eight equalities and seven successes of the reds.
Jurgen Klopp’s offensive and high-stakes style have made Liverpool need to steadily promote their cast’s relay. This should also happen in this match, but to a much lower degree. After all, a local derby defeat is not exactly a result that the fans would accept easily. Especially because it would entail an early elimination in the England Cup.
With his team very close to the starter and playing in Anfield Road, reds are the best option for guess. They have a price of 1.40 in Rivalo. Draw returns 4.50. Blue success multiplies the investment by 7.00.
