The Merseyside derby.
Of any date on the football calendar, a clash between Liverpool and Everton is amongst the fiercest not only in the Premier League, but anywhere on the planet.
Like a Shakespearean play, as two warring factions meet from different corners of Stanley Park, Anfield hosts what will unofficially be the 243rd meeting between these two sides.
Facing off on the eve of Valentine’s Day, there will be no love in the air this particular Monday night however, with both sides at something of crossroads in their seasons – and to some extent their very futures. So what can we look for in the betting?
To begin with, let’s look at the outright result markets.
After three defeats on the spin, Liverpool come into this during their most uncertain moment of the Jurgen Klopp era. Everton, meanwhile, are in similarly murky waters in the midst of a relegation dogfight, but after beating league leaders Arsenal in Sean Dyche’s managerial debut as Everton boss, the Toffees have been roused.
Ahead of kick-off, Liverpool are the strong favourites at a best price of 8/11 with SpreadEx, but Everton look real value here.
Though having only beaten Liverpool once in the last 13 years, they did that almost two years to the day in February 2021 in front of The Kop. The visitors’ price looks mighty tempting at 21/5 but just as appealing is the draw at 3/1, both with BetUK.
Remaining on the same theme, we feel Everton could sneak a lead before a second half scrap from their opponents, so for Everton to be ahead after 60 mins, a 4/1 price with Ladbrokes is open.
Unsurprisingly, Dyche went the aerial route against the Gunners with success and is unlikely to veer from the tried-and-tested method that characterised his time at Burnley so well. In terms of goal threat, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin a major doubt, the away threat will come from set-pieces and without both first-choice centre-backs, Liverpool might struggle to clear their lines.
A team that have a history of conceding goals from high balls at Anfield, we can very much see both James Tarkowski and Conor Coady carrying a threat from the back once more and UniBet’s price of 22/1 and 25/1 respectively to score is something to potentially place at least a small bet on.
For Darwin Nunez, the Liverpool story has been a difficult one thus far, but though his goal tally remains modest, his shots on target ratio is decent. For the Uruguayan to have 1+ SOT in each half, a 9/4 shot with Betfair looks more than possible.
As a derby, this contest should of course be physical and Everton’s Idrissa Gueye and Liverpool’s Stefan Bajcetic could be putting the tackles in on Monday evening in midfield. For both to commit at least 2+ fouls each, PaddyPower’s offering of 3/1might prompt investment.
Finally, sticking with Paddy for our acca stat pick of the game, for BTTS, both teams to have 3+ corners and for both sides to have 2+ cards shown, a punt of 9/2 is on the slate.
