Wednesday night was not a great experience for Liverpool as they suffered a third away defeat in Europe and left themselves in a final game showdown with Napoli if they are to remain in the competition. Jurgen Klopp's players will have to quickly forget about that game in Paris though as their attention turns to the Premier League as they host their local rivals Everton and look to continue the tremendous run that's seen them remain undefeated 13 games into the season. It had been a long time since Everton were victorious when visiting their old home of Anfield but they find themselves in great form too this season and with a manager who Klopp has failed to find a win against while taking him on as manager of Hull and Watford.
Liverpool may be coming in on the back of a defeat in Europe but their league form this season has been incredible with them not yet having tasted defeat and winning 4 of their last 5 games and only dropping 2 points at home in the league, against Manchester City. Last time out in the league saw them smash Watford 3-0 but it also saw captain Jordan Henderson pick up a red card meaning he will be suspended for the derby. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain remains out of action, however, Klopp is confident he will be able to have Adam Lallana back available after a couple of weeks out with injury. It is quite likely that he will also recall Trent Alexander Arnold back into the team after he was left out on Wednesday, the Liverpool born right-back will relish the chance to play in a Merseyside Derby and will be high on confidence after scoring an amazing free-kick against Watford as well as getting a goal for England while on international duty the week before. Everton's only absentee is youngster Jonjoe Kenny, however, he would be unlikely to have started ahead of captain Seamus Coleman anyway.
It has been an odd season for Liverpool so far, despite the results and their brilliant position in the league the performances have not been as great. The forwards have been under the spotlight for most of the season after failing to match the same levels of scoring of last season but following Wednesday's defeat to PSG, it is now the midfield who are being scrutinised. When asked about his midfield possibly being overrun in a press conference Klopp was dismissive and expressed confidence in his midfield pointing at the sides impressive defensive record this season. He did, however, admit that perhaps they had not been as creative. The man who Liverpool fans are hoping will help change that is Naby Keita who's working his way back into the side after a spell out with injury, he arrived with high expectations but so far has only shown flashes of brilliance. His fellow summer arrival Fabinho has found things difficult too since coming to Liverpool but is steadily becoming more involved as the season progresses. With Henderson unavailable, Lallana recovering from injury and the midfielders from Wednesday coming under criticism it is the perfect time for the two big-money signings to step up and displaying the skills which lead to Liverpool paying so much money for them.
Everton are coming into the game off the back of a 1-0 victory against Cardiff and find themselves in some good form after a rather slow start to the season. They have won 3 of their last 5 games with 1 defeat against Manchester United and a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Chelsea leaving them placed 6th in the league. Manager Marco Silva has built a strong squad and could have even achieved more had it not been for a significant amount of injuries to some of their top players. They themselves made some big transfer moves during the summer acquiring the likes of Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina from Barcelona as well as Brazil winger Bernard on a free transfer. Their biggest signing was Richarlison from Silva's previous side, Watford, a few eyebrows were raised at the transfer fee initially but the young Brazilian has really impressed scoring 6 goals in 11 games so far. He has power, speed and an eye for goal and is obviously the big threat for Liverpool but Everton have quality throughout their whole team now and I believe at full strength are capable of defeating anybody. Gylfi Sigurdsson is a dangerous attacking midfielder who can score and create chances while Idrissa Gueye is one of the best in the league at winning the ball back and breaking up play, I believe if Everton do find success against Liverpool it will be largely down to these 2 in midfield. They are also pretty solid at the back with Michael Keane and Englands first choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The Merseyside derbies are always entertaining and while it's known as the "friendly derby" on account of fans from each side mixing amongst one another with families divided in their loyalties it is often far from friendly on the pitch as the tackles usually fly in thick and fast. It is perhaps the ideal game for Liverpool fans following the dismal showing on Wednesday night as they can put that behind them and fire themselves up to get behind the players to grab the bragging rights and to extend their unbeaten run in the pursuit of the Premier League title.