The Merseyside Derby is coming up on Sunday and Everton have a huge task to try and beat an in-form Liverpool. Here’s three ways they could manage it.
1. Sit deep, real deep
Liverpool are blistering on the break. What they did to Brighton at the weekend or Spartak Moscow midweek were ritual acts of humiliation. The Reds were a hurricane of pace, movement and precision skill.
Everton will not want to unleash that whirlwind, because there’s probably no way back for them if they do. Thus the smartest thing they can do is sit deep, real deep. Take a cue from all the sides that have frustrated Liverpool this season and simply not give them the room they rampage into so effectively.
Put Ashley Williams and then either Michael Keane or Mason Holgate no more than 20 yards from their own goal, and have their midfield no more than 5-10 yards ahead of them. Everton must compact space if they want to win.
2. No potshots from range
With Sigurdsson and Rooney on the pitch, the temptation for Everton to launch potshots from range to try and catch Liverpool’s shaky Simon Mignolet out. But that’s a false hope. Mignolet is a dodgy goalkeeper, sure, but he’s a generally great shot stopper.
In the Premier League this season Liverpool have conceded just 1 goal from outside the box (only Burnley and Manchester United have conceded 0). They’re well set-up to deal with distance, the best way for Everton to hurt them would be to get up close and personal.
3. Target James Milner
In getting into the box and into Liverpool’s faces, Everton need to target someone on the break, or whenever they have the ball. Someone whom Calvert-Lewin can dominate in the air and rough-up on the ground. Now he could go at the centre-backs directly, but why not be smarter with it?
By targeting Milner in the air, Calvert-Lewin has an opponent he’s sure to dominate when Everton send those long-balls his way. Eventually this will drag one of Liverpool’s centre-backs over to try and help, thus disrupting the shape of Liverpool’s back-line and creating pockets of space that Wayne Rooney or Gylfi Sigurdsson could exploit.
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