12 Jun 2019
Having been played continuously since the 1962-63 season, the Merseyside derby is the longest running top-flight derby in England. So, when the names for the third round of the FA Cup came out of the hat on December 4th, the excitement was understandable.
The Toffees face a trip to Anfield on Friday, as Big Sam looks to put an end to the longest unbeaten derby game run of all top-flight derbies – Liverpool have not lost against Everton in their last 15. Worse still, Everton have not beaten the Reds at Anfield in their last 18 attempts, a run dating back to September 1999.
Everton have looked a different side under Allardyce, which has seen them climb the Premier League table to sit quite comfortably in 9th. They enjoyed a somewhat mediocre Christmas period, however, picking up just two points from four games.
In addition, although Allardyce is an expert instiller of stability, some might argue the managing maestro doesn’t have what it takes in knockout football. He has no domestic silverware to his name despite some 27 quests as a Premier League manager. In the FA Cup, he has overseen opening-round exits in seven of his 14 forays.
He will however hope the added importance of the game is enough to lift his players as they come up against a Liverpool side in fierce form of late.
The Reds enjoyed quite the Christmas period, the only blip being a six-goal thriller against Arsenal where they were forced to take home a share of the spoils. Their fire power is unquestionable.
That being said, of their ‘Fantastic Four’ in Salah, Coutinho, Mané and Firmino, the Reds could miss the first two of these men to injury on Friday. When that happened against Burnley on New Year’s Day it was only an unlikely injury time winner from defender Ragnar Klavan that ensured they took home all three points.
The Reds have also been notorious for their lightning fast starts to games this season, but Everton will hope that a 9,000 mile round trip for Mané and Salah, who are set to attend Thursday’s African Footballer of the Year awards in Ghana, might subdue their undoubted sting.
With one win apiece in their last two FA cup match-ups, the most recent of which saw Liverpool reach the final in 2012, Big Sam will take heart from a resilient performance that saw the Toffees take home an unlikely point at Anfield in the league last month.
Liverpool possess the Premier League’s top scoring midfielder among their ranks - aside from Raheem Sterling - in Roberto Firmino. We still however see Liverpool’s leading lights being too much to handle. The Brazilian has sixteen goals to his name across competitions this season, making football betting odds of 21/20 for him to score anytime a tasty proposition.
The home side’s defence is the only real potential source of doubt, and even that could receive a potential boost from the introduction of £75m signing Virgil van Dijk. We expect Liverpool to take this one at FA Cup betting odds of 4/9 to win.
Enjoy live FA Cup action in your local casino, find your nearest Genting here.
