Everton and Liverpool go to head-to-head in the re-arranged Goodison derby on Wednesday evening, with the Blues hoping to take another step towards safety while denting the reds’ title hopes.
It’s 14 nearly years since an Everton team beat Liverpool on home turf but if they can pull off what almost everyone would regard as a minor miracle, they would put themselves within touching distance of ensuring their Premier League status for another year.
Sean Dyche is hopeful that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be passed fit after scans revealed no damage from the knee injury he sustained during Sunday’s win over Nottingham Forest.
The striker was withdrawn from the fray in the 67th minute having undergone treatment on the pitch a few minutes earlier after picking up the knock and there were fears that he might be ruled out of the clash with Liverpool.
However, the injury has settled down and, while the manager didn’t seem all that convincing in his press conference at Finch Farm, he did say, “We’ll wait and see tomorrow but we’re hopeful” when asked about Calvert-Lewin’s availability.
His usual deputy, Beto, won’t feature, however, after he was knocked unconscious in stoppage time at the end of the 2-0 win over Forest and was taken to hospital as a precaution.
The Portuguese’s scans came back clear but he won’t be able to play in either of Everton’s next two games due to the Premier League’s concussion protocols.
If neither make it, the responsibilty for leading the line could fall to Youssef Chermiti who has made 13 appearances off the bench in all competitions this season but has just one start to his name since arriving from Sporting Lisbon last summer, that in the Carabao Cup tie at Doncaster back in August.
Playing the lone striker role against Liverpool’s much-vaunted defence would be a tall order for the 19-year-old but it represents a big opportunity for him to write his name into Goodison folklore if he can get himself onto the scoresheet and earn Everton something from the game.
Club captain Seamus Coleman is also ruled out along with Nathan Patterson.
With this being the second of three games in the space of six days, Dyche could elect to make other changes in the side, perhaps resting André Gomes in favour of James Garner and even changing formation to a back five that would feature wing-backs and allow Ashley Young to drop back to the bench.
Amadou Onana, who was benched at half-time at Chelsea and who didn’t feature at all against Forest, would also be pushing for a start.
In comparison, Júrgen Klopp will have an embarrassment of riches at his disposal even without Diogo Jota who is ruled out with the injury he sustained at Fulham at the weekend.
He joins Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara and Conor Bradley in the treatment room but the reds have a clean bill of health otherwise, with Klopp expected to bring the likes of Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai back into his starting XI.
The disparity between the two clubs these days says as much about the imbalance that exists in the Premier League as a whole as it does about Everton’s decline during the Farhad Moshiri years and what is always a daunting fixture can feel like Mission Impossible.
With some confidence back in the veins from the win over Forest, not least for the likes of goalscorers Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil, there is always hope that the Toffees can spring a surprise which would really throw the cat among the pigeons as far as the big battles go at either end of the Premier League table.
Kick-off: 8 pm, Wednesday 24 April 2024
Referee: Andy Madley
VAR: David Coote
Last Time: Everton 0 – 0 Liverpool
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Harrison, McNeil, Doucouré, Chermiti