Liverpool will travel to Goodison Park to face their city rivals Everton in the first Merseyside derby of the season on Saturday. The traditional mouth-watering battle will see both the sides looking to pick up three points courtesy of a moral-boosting victory. However, there is no doubt that it would not be easy for neither side. Referring to last year’s correspondent match up that saw Liverpool winning 2-1 thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s two controversial spot-kicks awarded by referee Mark Clattenburg, you can predict another heated encounter at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Match: Everton vs Liverpool, English Premier League 2008-2009
Date: 27 September 2008, Saturday
Venue: Goodison Park
Kick off: 12:45 BST (British Standard Time)
Live on TV: Sky Sports 1
Liverpool and Everton form one of the most popular and high-profile derby battles in Europe’s club football. Traditionally the football fans of the city get separated on the match day. So, public interest is always at the peak whenever the two rivals take on each other. Last season, Liverpool won both the home and away matches against Everton in premier league. So, Everton might play rough against Liverpool and they will go all out in front of their home crowd. For Liverpool, getting three points from the match is very important because they lost two important points against newly promoted Story City at home last weekend. So, Liverpool needs to be back on track in their pursuit to win much-awaited premier league title this season.
Liverpool started off well in the premier league campaign as the Rafael Benitez boys has not suffered any defeat so far this season. Moreover, Liverpool got a morale-booster home victory over Manchester United on 13 September. However, the Reds lost a large part of that momentum in their goal less disappointing home draw against Stroke City last weekend. However, it is true that Liverpool dominated all through the match against Stroke City, but their strikers failed to outclass the packed Stroke defense, while a Steven Gerrard goal was disallowed by referee on offside, even though television reply showed it could have been a legal goal.
However, Liverpool started their Carling Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra in the third round. The fans are not happy with the narrow margin victory over Crewe. With three victories and two draws in five premier league matches so far, Liverpool managed 11 points under their belt and currently stands at third position in the league after Arsenal and Chelsea.
Everton could not manage to get a good start in the season as they have already lost two out of five matches they played so far this season. The Blues could manage to win two matches. Interestingly, both the victories came away from home. With two wins, two defeats and a draw, Everton got 7 points so far and secures 9th place in the premier league. In their recent premier league encounter, Everton had to come from 2-0 down to ensure a point against Hull City. No doubt, it is a disappointing performance for Everton. They encountered another draw just 72 hours after the Hull City match as they were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Standard Liege in UEFA Cup.
Liverpool will miss defender Philipp Degen who picked up with two broken ribs in their 2-1 victory over Crewe. However, Captain Steven Gerrard and Spanish striker Fernando Torres will be back in the starting line up for the Everton match. Manager Rafael Benitez rested his two top guns against Crewe. So, they are now fresh enough to face Everton. Javier Mascherano might be drafted into the midfield to strengthen Liverpool midfield. Ryan Babel is also expected to come back in the match against Everton.
Everton manager David Moye will get two of his key players- Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta- available for the match. New recruit Louis Saha might get his debut match for Everton, while record signing Marouane Fellaini will also be there in the line up to get the experience of a Merseyside derby for the first time.
Online Live Score and Updates
If you want to get the online live score and updates of the match then visit the following online live score websites:
Live Score
Goalzz
Live Football Scores
Goal.com
Footie Scorez
It is a match that is always unpredictable. With both sides gearing up to give their best against each other, it is always too hard to pick up a favorite between Everton and Liverpool. Everton may not have been in good form, but they will have home advantage. Liverpool, similarly, lost points against Stroke City, but you need to remember their heroic victory over Manchester United. Overall, the upcoming encounter between Everton and Liverpool seems to be a hard-fought affair with full of excitement.
Related articles:
Sportbox
Thisisanfield
Soccerway