English Premier League | Sunday 4 September | Goodison Park | 14:30
Super Sunday welcomes one of the greatest local derbies in England as Everton face off against Liverpool. The Toffees come into this one on an unbeaten run of four matches whilst Liverpool ended a winless run of the same amount of games with a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa last weekend.
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To Win (90mins)
Everton 16/10
Draw 22/10
Liverpool 31/20
Everton
Everton fought back from a two-goal deficit to defeat West Brom 3-2 on Monday night. The Baggies took a 2-0 lead by the 54th minute. However, a minute later Romelu Lukaku rose to nod in Gerard Deulofeu’s cross, and then set up Arouna Kone who fired in to level. Belgium striker Lukaku then completed a brace and grabbed the winner with a close-range strike from another excellent Deulofeu delivery. Everton’s victory took their unbeaten run to four games in the league and lifted manager Roberto Martinez’s team up to fifth in the table with 12 points from seven games.
The Toffees will now return to Goodison Park where they ousted defending champions Chelsea 3-2 last time around. Everton could be boosted by the return of John Stones as well as Seamus Coleman from injury. The defensive pair have been vital for the Toffees; Stones with his speed and strength to hold off strikers as well as win aerial battles whilst Coleman can be extremely useful turning defence into attack. Steven Naismith became the first player to score a Premier League hat-trick against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and he will be looking to find the back of the net after failing to score in Everton’s last two matches.
Kone has been effective for the Toffees this season and after scoring last time out could be given the nod for a place in the starting line-up. Deulofeu is another player who has been tremendous in recent weeks, including two assists for Lukaku against West Brom. He has outstanding skill, ball control and has an incredible change of pace. The young Spaniard has an eye for a pass as well as goal, and Liverpool’s defenders will need to keep him quiet. Lukaku is the go-to-man, target-man and Liverpool’s man to keep a close eye on. The big young Belgian can change a game in moments and he will be keen to add to his four league goals against the Reds.
Liverpool
Daniel Sturridge scored his first two goals since March as Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-2 in an entertaining affair. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers had been under pressure after five games without a win, other than last Wednesday’s League Cup penalty shootout victory over League Two side Carlisle. The Reds title challenge two seasons ago under Rodgers seems a long time ago now. There were plans for Liverpool fans to dress up as Jurgen Klopp against Villa – the former Borussia Dortmund coach who some would like to see replace Rodgers – though there was little evidence this came to fruition.
Liverpool will be happy to have ended such a poor run and move up to eighth on the table, however, they were made to work very hard for the victory against one of the worst sides in the division. Liverpool played some decent football for their goals, but they were caught out by Villa twice. Their next league games – against Everton, Tottenham and Southampton – could go a long way to deciding Rodgers’s future. Christian Benteke is facing a battle against time to make his Liverpool bow in the Merseyside derby after suffering a minor hamstring injury against Norwich two weeks ago and will need a late fitness test ahead of Sunday’s encounter. The huge boost from this game for Liverpool was the return of Sturridge’s name to the scoresheet. The England international was making his second appearance since recovering from a hip surgery. While he still has some fitness to gain before reproducing the form that saw him score 24 goals in 2013-14.
Philippe Coutinho has been a constant threat for the Reds this season and probably their best performer overall. The Brazilian has quick feet, trickery for days and the ability to pick out even the most difficult of passes. James Milner has been a work horse for the Reds, making up more ground than any player in the league as he tries to win over the Liverpool faithful. He was brilliant against his old club Aston Villa, scoring 66 seconds into the game as well as assisting Sturridge with his first goal and his power and work-rate will be vital for Liverpool as they attempt to leave Goodison Park with maximum points and bragging rights.
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Probable line-ups:
Everton: 4-2-3-1
Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Galloway; McCarthy, Barry; Deulofeu, Barkley, Kone; Lukaku
Liverpool: 3-5-2
Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho Clyne; Milner, Lucas; Moreno Coutinho, Benteke; Sturridge
Betting Verdict: Everton 16/10
Everton have looked far more convincing that their opponents in recent matches. Liverpool have scored just two goals in three travels thus far and their defensive has looked frail, conceding cheap goals. Back the Toffees to claim maximum points.
Written by Aaron Crowie for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!
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