Paul Merson cannot see Liverpool giving it their all in their Merseyside Derby clash against Everton this weekend.
Liverpool may have been in sensational form to beat Manchester City on Wednesday night, but Paul Merson cannot see them beating Everton in the Merseyside Derby.
The pundit explained in his predictions column for Sky Sports that he’d be ‘shocked’ if Jurgen Klopp played his full strength side at Goodison Park on Saturday and has predicted a 1-0 home win.
Liverpool may have what looks a comfortable 3-0 lead to take into the second leg of their Champions League clash with City next Tuesday, but Klopp is unlikely to see the tie as being anywhere near over.
With that in mind, Merson makes the good point that even a big grudge match like this one is unlikely to be a priority for the Reds on this occasion.
“I just don’t see it being an important game for Liverpool, I really don’t,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“I just can’t see them playing their full team.
“It’s one of them where they’ve got an important game coming up. They worked hard the other day so if Jurgen Klopp goes and plays a full team I would be shocked.”
While some Liverpool fans will surely appreciate that doing everything possible to cement a Champions League semi-final spot is a priority for the club, there will no doubt be complaints from some quarters if Klopp is seen as throwing away a derby match like this.
It’s also worth questioning how it could affect the players if wholesale changes are made to the starting XI and it does lead to a bad defeat, as some would argue it’s important to keep momentum and confidence flowing through this squad ahead of what will no doubt be a challenging second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
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