Last weekend in the Premier League, Everton recorded a much needed, surprise 1-0 victory against league leaders Arsenal in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge at Goodison Park whilst Liverpool fell to a humiliating 3-0 defeat at lowly Wolves.
Ahead of Monday’s Merseyside Derby, we spoke to Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba about his thoughts on the game to see how he saw this one going!
VI: Football is crazy.
That’s the beauty of the beautiful game! The unpredictability of football players! I’ve played this game for so many years and as anyone who loves football will tell you statistics and form sometimes doesn’t mean anything and Everton showed that last week vs Arsenal.
I had a lot of sympathy for Frank Lampard after he was sacked as Everton manager in January given the situation the Toffees find themselves in as a club right now but ahead of this Merseyside derby at Anfield between Liverpool and Everton, a new manager picking three points, as Sean Dyche did in his first outing, has given the blue side of the city a much needed boost.
Defensive Dyche Strikes Again
We all know that Dyche is a very pragmatic manager and tends to favour a very defensive system and its clear he has not really changed the way he sees football since he left Burnley. I think his new side showed some much needed energy and passion against Arsenal given the fight they have ahead of them for Premier League survival.
Truthfully, I was worried for Dyche’s men last weekend given that they were facing possibly the most in-form team in Europe. I was sure that everything Arsenal had would trouble the Goodison Park faithful but they defied all expectations to topple the Premier League leaders. This Monday night though, they face a completely different challenge as they head across Stanley Park.
Liverpool look like they’ll never win a football match again. They looked terrible against Wolves, they’ve just completely lost their way and I don’t believe it has to do with injuries. I think there’s still more than enough quality in this Liverpool side to get results against teams struggling at the bottom of the league like Wolves so it’s a very poor run of form and you begin to wonder if this truly is the end of an era for this Jurgen Klopp side.
Liverpool Miss Mané
In a column just last week I spoke about how big of a loss Sadio Mané was to the club and how the team operated and the more I see of the Reds this season, the clearer it becomes that they have not been able to replace him. Nunez hasn’t hit the ground running, Diaz and Jota have been sidelined with injuries and it’s probably too soon to expect Gakpo to fill the gap left by the Senegal captain.
It’s a good time for anyone to play Liverpool and I think Everton will feel that they have a chance against a team that have lacked belief and have not won a Premier League game since…I am struggling to remember the last time Liverpool actually won a game it’s been that long!
This is a difficult time for Liverpool but it’s a great opportunity for Klopp’s men to get a much needed win against one of their biggest, most historic rivals and Everton have won just once at Anfield in the 21st century.
If Everton have the same work ethic as they did against Arsenal and are just as extremely motivated they could pull off a result but we don’t know which Liverpool side will turn up in this game in truth. Everton will of course be full of confidence, but they will not get carried away and I’d expect Liverpool to dominate possession and the result will likely depend on whether Liverpool can take their chances but I think they’re collectively struggling for confidence in front of goal.
I can see the game ending in a draw but I still feel Liverpool, although I’m worried about their form, are the more likely to win the game. I’m not getting carried away by Everton’s good result last week because they’ve shown us all season how inconsistent and beatable they are! We saw they had a good game against Arsenal but they also drew away against Manchester City earlier in the season and they lost both of their subsequent games so this will be a fascinating match-up.
Liverpool will remain the favourites to pick up three points but I’m going for the contest to end in a draw.
Do you agree with Victor’s call? Click here for all the latest Liverpool vs Everton odds and markets!
