Liverpool FC kept the good times rolling in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night, defeating Villarreal 3-2 in their first match on the continent this term. And this W means that Liverpool have now won all five of their games so far this season (across two different competitions). Everton will no doubt be on notice as the next edition of the Merseyside derby commences this weekend.
As always, it should be a very spirited affair.
Liverpool at Everton FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday, September 20 at 12.30pm local, Anfield
Google Result Probability: Everton victory 14% Draw 20% Liverpool victory 66%
Premier League Standing, Form Everton 6th, 7 pts, LWWD Liverpool 1st, 12 pts, WWWW
The Reds are the only Premier League team to have won all four of their league fixtures this season. The Toffees will provide a good challenge though, as they’ve actually been better than expected thus far on the young campaign.
Team News vs Everton
Reds boss Arne Slot confirmed that midfielder Curtis Jones will be fit enough to play this weekend.
“Curtis picked up something in the Arsenal game, so we had to leave him out at Burnley,” Slot said. “It wasn’t serious, but we wanted to make sure he recovered properly. He will be back for the derby.”
Now that Jones has recovered from his unspecified/undisclosed knock, Slot has no injury or fitness concerns here. We don’t think Jones will make the first team however.
Starting XI Prediction vs Everton
Alisson Becker; Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Milo Kerkez; Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Mo Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo; Alexander Isak
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter