After a dreadful run of form, Everton were back to the winning ways this midweek against Cardiff City. But the Merseyside derby on Sunday evening is massively significant for Marco Silva’s men as they seek revenge for their bizarre Anfield defeat back in December. Anything other than a win would jeopardise Liverpool’s title hopes with mighty Manchester City aiming for back to back league triumphs under Pep Guardiola.
Everton are way behind the ‘big six’ in the points tally but are eyeing to be the best among the rest and keep their European hopes alive. However, they must be apt and precise with their strategy and execute it methodically to humble their bitter rivals at Goodison Park.
Here we discuss three such tactical master-moves which might see Silva spoiling Liverpool’s party on a successful effectuation.
The Best Defence is a Good Offence
Everton have not been convincing enough defensively this season but must focus on the same over exhibiting an attacking display. The Reds prefer to attack the space and hit back on the counter against sides who prefer an open game. They have demolished the likes of AFC Bournemouth and Watford but struggled against West Ham United and Leicester City who opted to defend deep and close down quickly. The Toffees must take a similar approach to frustrate Liverpool and grab a result this time after throwing it away in the closing seconds during their Anfield encounter.
Set-piece Threats
Liverpool have conceded only 15 goals in the league, but the last two of them came from set-pieces. They also struggled against Crystal Palace while defending corners. Therefore, it might be viewed as a rare weak link of a very resilient backline.
Everton, meanwhile, have Gylfi Sigurdsson in their ranks who is known for his astounding set-piece skills – both direct and indirect free-kicks as well as crossing in from corners. The Icelandic sensation must make it work and utilise the opportunities to find the net beating past Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
Defending Wing play and Cutbacks
Liverpool would most certainly look to use the width of the pitch due to having two of league’s most attacking fullbacks in the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson. They would combine with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane down the wide areas to terrorise the Toffees defensive line. The hosts also have two aggressive fullbacks in Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne, but they must concentrate more on defending deep than overlapping runs and stop the Reds from making free runs and cut insides to trouble Jordan Pickford between the sticks.
