Premier League – Everton vs Liverpool – Merseyside Derby Preview

Everton host neighbours Liverpool at Goodison Park on Saturday for the first Merseyside Derby of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

The Toffees are winless after their opening five league games, while Liverpool scraped a 98th minute win over Newcastle last time out and now sit in sixth place after a stuttering start to the season.

The Merseyside derby has seen more red cards than any other fixture, a total of 22 during the Premier League era, so expect a feisty affair in the so called ‘Friendly Derby’.

Everton have continued this campaign where they left off. The 17th placed side have been missing an out-and-out striker due to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s prolonged absence, although Frank Lampard will be hoping new signing Neal Maupay can hit the ground running.

After losing their opening two Premier League games, the Toffees have gone on to record three successive 1-1 draws against Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Leeds – the last time they drew four in a row was in October/November 2012 (which included a 2-2 home draw with Liverpool).

Three points out of a possible 15 will no doubt leave the blue half of Merseyside worrying that another relegation battle could be on the cards, although a rare win over neighbours Liverpool would go a long way in allaying some of those fears.

Draws have been a popular result in Merseyside derbies contested at Goodison, a result Frank Lampard would probably take considering he has lost all four Premier League meetings with Jurgen Klopp, where his sides have conceded at least two goals each time.

The Toffees are however averaging five shots on target per game in the Premier League this season, their highest since the 2016/17 campaign and up from their average of 3.6 last term.  Everton have won just