It’s the Merseyside derby weekend and Liverpool are coming into the game after two clean sheets. This is the back four we want to see against Everton on Sunday.
Everyone looks forward to the Merseyside derby. But you look forward to it even more when the Reds are on fire and the Blues are scrabbling for goals and wins. Liverpool come into the game on a nine game unbeaten run. The two most recent games being the thrashings of Brighton & Hove Albion and Spartak Moscow.
The Reds scored 12 goals in those two games but the two clean sheets are just as encouraging. They have conceded far more goals than they would like this season. The club only has two losses on the season but a handful of draws have put Liverpool far behind Premier League title contenders Manchester City.
Liverpool have a few injuries in defense to contend with this weekend. Joel Matip looks set to miss out again with an abductor muscle strain. Ragnar Klavan and Joe Gomez both returned to the side against Spartak after missing out the Brighton game with illness. We will see if they are both well enough for two games in a week. Alberto Moreno picked up an injury that looked serious in the Champions League match and may end up sitting out the derby.
It will be interesting to see how Klopp approaches this game. He has rotated heavily in the last few weeks as the fixtures have piled up. He has also been experimenting with formations; three at the back last Saturday with Emre Can and Gini Wijnaldum as make shift defenders.
Here is the back four we want to see against Everton:
Right Back: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Gomez plays one game then Alexander-Arnold plays the next right? That’s how it works? Not exactly but almost. Joe Gomez got the nod against Spartak Moscow as he has done for almost all the big games this year. The derby is as big as it comes for Liverpool fans so there is a good chance that Klopp will keep Gomez on the right.
However, I think he wants to crush Everton this weekend. Just end them. Batter them so hard that they lose all confidence and self-belief. They are bad. We are good. We can go for the jugular AND any other arteries we can locate.
The huge plus with playing Trent Alexander-Arnold is that is gives our attack an extra dimension out wide. The other bonus is that he is a local lad. Every Liverpool fan wants to see a Scouser or two in the Liverpool side for a Merseyside derby.
Leighton Baines has seen his form dip this season. He has been a high performing left back for Everton for over a decade now. But this year you can get at him. Let’s terrorize Baines with a pacy duo of TAA and Salah.
Center Back: Joe Gomez
I write one of these articles before every Liverpool game and (almost) every time I put Joe Gomez in as a center back. Jurgen Klopp clearly doesn’t read my articles. However there was a sign in the Spartak Moscow game that he maybe considering shifting Gomez inside more often.
Liverpool were 5-0 after just 50 minutes and Klopp decided to bring on Alexander-Arnold on for Dejan Lovren and push Gomez centrally. It was a strange move rather than rest one of the forwards for Sunday. That is unless he is considering starting Gomez at center back and wanted to give him some minutes.
It is a rare sight to see Gomez and Alexander-Arnold on the pitch together at the same time. They both featured for England Under 21’s recently but now Gomez has gravitated to the full international squad.
While the pressure of a derby game is a lot for a young center back the reality is Everton have very little actual goal threat. There is not a single forward or attacker at Goodison you are worried about since Romelu Lukaku departed for Manchester United in the summer.
Center Back: Dejan Lovren
Ragnar Klavan has done alright. You’re still not excited about him playing but he has looked like a competent defender and reliable passer during our unbeaten stretch. Dejan Lovren has also played well in that time. He has bounced back well after the horror show performance at Spurs. That game saw him dragged off after 30 minutes. It could easily have broken the resolve of many players but Klopp has handled the situation well.
If the young boys start on the right hand side then we will need some more experienced heads to balance it out. Lovren only played 60 minutes in midweek and should be fit and ready to go again on Sunday.
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Usually you are a little concerned about our back four. Bags of pace and they are in trouble. Too much strength and they get bullied around. An abundance of skill leaves them clueless and passive.
Everton have none of those things. They have no-one fast; no-one strong and Rooney’s fat right foot doesn’t count as skillful. The only thing I am a little concerned about, as always, is set-pieces. Especially Gylfi Sigurdsson will be the one taking them. But to our credit we have quietly improved that area of defending in recent months.
Left Back: James Milner
As Alberto Moreno left the pitch in tears on Wednesday night I thought “well Andrew Robertson is going to start against The Ev”. However James Milner came on and changed my mind.
Within 5 minutes of coming on he had two assists and managed to get a third before the game was over. It was a very impressive cameo for the Englishman who has been playing in his favored midfield role this year.
Last season the left back spot was his. Even to the point that when Andrew Robertson was signed we presumed he would be fighting Milner for the position. Moreno has since gone on to prove everybody wrong and claimed the role as his own through hard work and solid performances.
Robertson is the most natural choice to deputize for Moreno and he played there last weekend against Brighton & Hove Albion. Yet if Klopp goes for Alexander-Arnold and Gomez on the right hand side he will want the veteran balance on the left.
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Milner is as professional as it comes. He should be given this game at full back to tide us over until either the Spaniard returns to fitness or there is a less pressured game for Robertson to be given another go.