Liverpool can expect a night of intensity and hostility when they head to Goodison Park this evening.
Everton will be wanting another night like last week’s glorious win over Arsenal, and they could well employ similarly physical tactics against Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Klopp’s side are notoriously poor at dealing with aerial balls, particularly from set pieces, so it will be interesting to see how Ronald Koeman exploits that.
Yet, Klopp doesn’t fear that his players will fall upon the same sword as Arsenal.
When asked if he was concerned about Everton’s physical play, he told the media:
“No. Not a second.
“Wenger is right, of course. That is fact that it can make a difference but I don’t have any fears.
“I told you how we watched the game? Well the first 20 minutes, it was different. Arsenal scored a goal – not the nicest in the world – but they got a goal, had been good in the game.
“Everton had been aggressive but they couldn’t get the challenges where they wanted. Then Arsenal opened the game for them and Goodison Park ran through. As a neutral football fan, things like this are nice to see.”
If anything, the Gunners have just set the rest of the Premier League an example of how not to play Everton, so Liverpool should be fully prepared.
A win tonight will put the Reds second, overtaking Manchester City and narrowing their deficit on Chelsea to just six points.
In those terms, Everton have less of an incentive in that they’ll only go seventh with a win, but that kind of thing rarely has any bearing on a Merseyside derby.
Check out Football Advisor for profitable betting predictions
