This Sunday Sees Everton host Liverpool at Goodison Park in this seasons first installment of the Merseyside derby.
The derby although most people already know this, is traditionally a fiery affair with the teams being seperated by less than a mile in the shape of Stanley Park. Although it has in the past been given the 'friendly derby' tag, most games do not go without incident, the merseyside derby has seen more red cards than any other fixture since the beginning of the Premiership era.
Liverpool go into this game off the back of a solid win against Reading keeping a clean sheet and also seeing 17 year old starlet Raheem Sterling notch his first premier league goal with a smart finish. Although this victory saw more positives for Brendan Rodgers side Liverpools form has been indifferent this season and leaves them down in 12th in the league taking only nine points from eight games, which is no where near good enough for a team with the expectations and traditions of Liverpool. It has often been a case of all style and substance for the reds as they have often lost out on the three points this season by failing to convert chances despite good performances.
Everton on the other hand made a great start to the season with a win over Man United and a solid result against Aston Villa followed by two wins and a draw from their four fixtures in September. However squad depth has always been a problem David Moyes has had to deal with at Goodison and again the fragility of his team is being shown as injuries to key first team players has exposed Evertons weaker back up players. They have drawn their last two games away to both Wigan and QPR, two fixtures Everton would have expected to win. Despite the recent drop in form though Everton hold 4th place in the league with 15 points from their first eight games.
So coming into this weekend it seems to be a fairly even encounter between two sides however the merseyside derby is no ordinary fixture and anything could happen.
Looking at the likely teams ahead of the game it could be a fixture that is won in the midfield area, and with the players that Everton could be missing it appears the advantage would be with Liverpool.
Everton are already missing Darren Gibson through injury and Fellaini will have to undergo a late fitness test to make the kick off come half one, following a knee injury picked up whilst on international duty with Belgium. However if the afro-haired talisman can be fit it would be a big boost to Everton.
David Moyes has a back up plan in the shape of experienced midfielder Thomas 'the hammer' Hitzlperger who was brought in on a free last week but again he is struggling to be at full fitness and could only make a cameo in the game.
The blues weakened midfield was shown up against a battling QPR side last weekend as Osman and Neville struggled to win the ball and create any real possession for the toffees. Everton's performance on the whole seemed disjointed agains the London side without Fellaini in the middle.
They also weren't helped by the harsh sending off of Steven Pienaar meanin he will also miss the derby. The South-african midfielder has been one half of the premiership's most devestating left sided combination this season. He and left back Leighton Baines have provided the most goals for Everton this season with some brilliant link up play and accurate deliveries to the box and that partnership will be a big miss for the blues.
Liverpool are not without their own problems however facing somewhat of a striker crisis after failing to get a replacement in for out of favour Andy Carroll on deadline day and losing Fabio Borini to injury, leaving Luis Suarez as a lone striker for the reds.
Suarez is one of the most frustrating players to watch in the game of football for every act of genius he comes up with there's an act of stupidity to cancel it out. Despite his obvious talent he is something of a controversial character already well documented so I won't go to much into that, but another problem with the Uruguayan is his conversion rate. He doesn't score half as many goals as he should do, he uses his trickery and skill to get into great positions but quite often fails to put the ball in the net.
Liverpool fans me included will be hoping that come sunday Suarez manages to keep himself out of trouble and has his scoring boots on because on his day he can be unplayable.
Should it be Osman and Neville that face the reds on sunday it could be expected that Gerrard, Allen and either one of Shelvey or Sahin, will be the much more mobile of the central midfielders and they should be able to use their speed and technical ability to create great chances for the reds.
Overall I think it will be a close game and if Everton can get Fellaini's name on the starting line-up then it will be even tighter, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say I think it will be 2-1 Liverpool.
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