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When you think of this current Liverpool, you expect them to rack up the goals in their fists, while taking down teams at home and away. In most cases, this has been the case in recent seasons. However, there has been a stadium that has been hungry for goals since Jürgen Klopp arrived five years ago, and it is quite close to home.
A trip to Goodison Park awaits this weekend as the Merseyside derby receives its latest installment. Liverpool have an impressive record against their closest rivals, but when it comes to traveling around Stanley Park things have played out differently than the Reds would have liked against Everton.
The previous four meetings between Liverpool and Everton at Goodison have a combined total of just one goal, courtesy of a spectacular late-breaking goal from Sadio Mané. in December 2016. Almost four years since we were gifted some kind of goal in the Merseyside derby at the home of the Toffees, surely things have to change this time, right?
If we go back to those previous meetings, there has been a very common theme everywhere. Liverpool has been the dominant force in Merseyside for quite some time, and that has been shown in trips to Goodison. Everton have been too preoccupied with preventing their opponents from gaining the advantage that their own scoring tactics have almost thrown out the window.
Let’s take the April 2018 stalemate as a prime example. Back then, Liverpool’s main scoring threat was Mohamed Salah, who was having a historic debut season at Anfield. But for the game against Everton, the Egyptian was not available for selection due to injury. Klopp’s main attacker was suddenly unavailable and no doubt contributed to the lack of goals that day.
A year later and things looked slightly different. There was still a significant gap in quality between the two clubs, possibly even larger. Liverpool faced a serious title challenge while Everton roamed the middle of the table. The set-up for the game consisted of the Blues preventing their closest rivals from securing a long-awaited Premier League title and as a result, there was very little scoring action that day.
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And then he returns to last season’s game at Goodison, which also turned out to be the first game in Project Restart for both clubs after a three-month suspension. It was a game that showed the lack of sharpness of the matches in both sets of players, and it was not a surprise to see the shared points, as well as the lack of real fluidity in attack for both sides.
That was then, but this is now. For the first time in a long time, Everton enter a Merseyside derby in better shape and with more confidence than Liverpool. Klopp and his players may still be reeling from the humiliation they suffered at Aston Villa a fortnight ago, but they will have to forget about that if they want a chance against their closest rivals.
Klopp may not have a lot of experience facing Ancelotti’s Everton, but there have been a few occasions when he has faced the Italian team Napoli. Liverpool faced the Serie A club four times in two Champions League campaigns and only managed one victory. A single goal was also scored, which came from Salah and ensured progression to the knockout stages of the competition.
Liverpool have already conceded 11 goals in four league games this season, conceded seven of them in one game, but they themselves have scored 11. While Everton are the league’s top scorers with one more than the Reds. All signs are that this year’s game at Goodison will be packed with goals, as opposed to the dull and boring encounter we are used to seeing in recent years.
Everything is set for Klopp and Liverpool to completely change the narrative that has been established against Ancelotti and Everton in recent seasons, but there are indications that this could be the moment when everything changes. Confidence and form can completely change the mindset going into a match, and both sides will have realistic ambitions of scoring all three points when they meet this weekend.
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