Liverpool are, of course, locked in the title race against Manchester City, seeking to equal Manchester United’s record of 20 league titles in their trophy cabinet, and derby or not, they simply cannot afford to slip up against a team as troubled as Everton are at the moment.
They have to be ruthless and take full advantage of the situation. At the moment, the Reds are second to the defending champions by a single point in the Premier League table, and the race promises to be exciting right down to the final round.
Having passed through their Champions League group much more easily than many would’ve expected, they eliminated Inter Milan and Benfica and have now reached the semifinals, where they will face Villarreal over two legs, the first of which is being played just three days after this match.
In the FA Cup, Liverpool have just eliminated Manchester City and will face Chelsea in the final, having already beaten Thomas Tuchel’s side in the final of the Carabao Cup.
In short, Liverpool are still very much in the picture for all four trophies this season.
The recent form of Jurgen Klopp’s men is rather formidable. They didn’t win only when they could afford not to, or when the opponent was as good as them. The last six matches in all competitions saw them beat Watford at home by 2-0 and Benfica in Lisbon by 1-3, before drawing 2-2 away to City and 3-3 at home against Benfica. Then they faced City in the FA Cup semis at Wembley and won that round by 3-2, followed by a proper thrashing of their arch-rivals Manchester United at home by 4-0.
Everton
It has been a nightmare season for the Toffees. They appointed former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez to replace Carlo Ancelotti last summer after the experienced Italian tactician left them for Real Madrid, but that didn’t work out too well. Benitez was sacked in mid-January and replaced by Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.
The Toffees are still in serious danger of relegation. As things stand at the moment, a point more and a game in hand on direct rivals Burnley means that they have a quite realistic chance of avoiding the drop, but they’ll have to start picking up results soon. Facing a rampart Liverpool on a quest for glory is not something they need right now, but they obviously can’t choose their opponent.
Everton’s last six matches in all competitions include a 1-0 win over Newcastle at home, a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in the FA Cup quarterfinals, a 2-1 defeat away to West Ham, a 3-2 defeat to Burnley which has obviously complicated matters significantly, a 1-0 win at home over Manchester United, and a 1-1 draw at home against Leicester City earlier this week.
