The return of Daniel Sturridge from injury and Lucas Leiva from the sidelines has reinvigorated Brendan Rodgers’ 3-5-2 formation just in time; with Jurgen Klopp hovering behind the dugout, derby day victory is essential.
Plagued by injuries, Everton’s makeshift defence currently includes Tyias Browning (1.5 tackles, 1.5 interceptions per match) at right-back, and the youngster struggled to contain striker Saido Berahino at The Hawthorns last Monday evening.
Berahino was menacing from the left wing and scored the opener after breaking free of Browning to latch onto a through-ball.
The Everton tyro's opponent this week will be Sturridge, an intelligent striker whose upright slaloms, puffed-out chest and Samba-like jigs have been sorely missed at Anfield.
Browning struggled at West Brom (left), in the same zone that Sturridge played in against Villa (right).
Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling were the explosive shuttle run strikers in that famous title race campaign, but it was Sturridge’s vision that formed the fulcrum upon which those frenzied forwards moved.
Now returned, Liverpool’s overall cohesion has suddenly increased as midfielders around him find extra space, are given a more interesting passing option and are energised by the flitting speed of his one-twos.
Like Alan Hutton last weekend, Browning may struggle to track this movement while receiving little support from his right winger Gerard Deulofeu (0.2 tackles, 0 interceptions per match).
Everton’s primary creative threat is, of course, the power and pace of Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku. Barkley has been in superb form this season, but comes up against a new midfield partnership of Lucas and James Milner that easily nullified Jack Grealish last weekend; Lucas made a remarkable 11 tackles, and Milner made 6.
Note the number of tackles made by Lucas (left) and James Milner (right) against Villa.
Assuming Barkley’s influence at Goodison Park is limited, Lukaku’s main threat will be aerially: unfortunately for Toffees manager Roberto Martinez, this is another area in which Liverpool have shown marked improvements in recent weeks. The Reds are fourth in the table for headers won (19.1 per match) and have succeeded in 56% of aerial challenges, more than any other Premier League club this season.
Lukaku is dominating aerially (vs Spurs, left) but so are Liverpool, as shown at Stoke (right).
A derby is always rife with uncertainty, and indeed predicting the outcome of a game between the league’s two most error-prone teams is difficult. But Liverpool’s returning striker, new defensive shield in central midfield and superior aerial prowess give Rodgers an excellent opportunity to restore some credibility.
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