Title Race: Liverpool must beat Everton to stay in the hunt

Liverpool vs Everton: High-stakes Merseyside derby, title race implications, and players' form analysis.

Liverpool must beat Liverpool to keep up the title chase, Everton's resilience will be tested. (Photo credit: GOAL)

 

Everton vs. Liverpool

Goodison Park

8:00pm

Liverpool must feel more pain than Chelsea after what Arsenal did on Tuesday at the Emirates to their London rivals, putting huge pressure on Jurgen Klopp and his lads.

The Merseyside derby is one of the most one-sided derbies in Europe, but with the Toffees fighting relegation, Liverpool cannot underrate Sean Dyche’s team, and anything short of three points at Goodison Park automatically sends Liverpool out of the title race.

There will be just four games left after the game at Everton on Wednesday night. The Kops will be away to West Ham, then host Tottenham before another trip to Aston Villa. The season ends for Liverpool at Anfield against Wolves; for them to be in the race by then, they must keep winning.

Everton’s victory over Nottingham Forest at the weekend took them four points clear of the drop zone with a game in hand, which is this fixture against Liverpool. A point or a win over their local rivals reduces their worries significantly; Liverpool should be worried.

While there were many contentious calls against Forest, the Toffees put up a good fight and took their chances when they could, giving them a breather against the teams around them. This is more like a free hit for Everton, but they have enough motivation to trouble their visitors.

Liverpool left the trio of Darwin Nunez, Mohammed Salah, and Alexis Mac Allister on the bench against Fulham, and it paid off in the end as Trent Alexander Arnold returned to the starting lineup and marked it with a brilliant free kick.

Expect the restoration of Salah, Nunes, and Mac Allister to the starting eleven. Klopp trusts his kids, and he has given them more minutes than any other manager in the top six, but a game like this needs experience; it could end up being feisty.

Everton has everything to fight for; they could effectively leave Forest and Luton for dead in the race to beat the drop with a win over their local rivals. They would be as good as safe with three points; can they fight for it?

Salah has been a shadow of himself since coming back from injury; he has yet to score from open play in four games, and while Klopp continues to manage his minutes, the Egyptian must stand to be counted in their most important game so far.

Verdict: Liverpool to win.