Everton haven’t defeated Liverpool in the Premier League since 2024, but coming into the Merseyside derby, there are plenty of reasons for David Moyes to feel confident that his side can be the first team to earn points off of the Reds in the new season. Liverpool have been leaving things late with stoppage time winners in three of their last four matches. They’ve also blown two goal leads in two of those, showing that Arne Slot’s attack may be great, but the defense needs work.
Derby matches like this one are usually low-scoring affairs, but that likely won’t be the case on Saturday. With the additions of Kernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish, the Toffees are creating chances and putting them in the back of the net, their 39 chances created are good for sixth in the Premier League. No team has scored more than Liverpool’s nine goals through four matches, and they are second in the Premier League with 49.
Jack Grealish’s four assists are tops in the Premier League, which makes sense, since he has been the key in this new look Everton. The Toffees have only scored one goal this season, which didn’t involve Grealish, and while an 80% goal involvement rate may be unsustainable, when Grealish left Aston Villa for Manchester City, he had a more reasonable, bust still very high 29% involvement. This is someone who is used to being the focal point of an attack and who also isn’t afraid to try things when the focus of the entire defense is on him. Not that Liverpool’s defense has been strong enough to stop a player from doing what they want, which they showed on the opening day of the season when Antoine Semenyo scored a brace for Bournemouth.
How to watch Liverpool vs. Everton, odds
- Date: Saturday, Sep. 20 | Time: 7:30 a.m. ET
- Location: Anfield — Liverpool, England
- TV: USA | Live stream: LINKS Fubo (Try for free)
- Odds: Liverpool -230; Draw +360; Everton +600
Everton are a side who are looking to show that they belong in the top half after opening the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, and taking a chance on Grealish is something that could get them there. Defeating Liverpool won’t be the be-all-end-all, but if Everton can reach that goal it would cap a strong start to the season. Being able to walk into Anfield and leave with a result would be an incredible boon.
There is, however, the slight issue of Everton’s defense to deal with and why this match will be different than the average meeting between these two. Jordan Pickford has been called upon to produce miracles as Everton have allowed the seventh most expected goals this season at 6.11, but they’ve only allowed three of those to turn into actual goals conceded. It’s a major warning sign ahead of facing a Liverpool attack of Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, and Hugo Ekitike, which can be the stuff of nightmares for even accomplished defenses. Injuries to Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko have hurt their usually stout defense which is why if Everton want to get a result, they’ll need to go at Liverpool.
Even after going ahead, the Reds have been vulnerable to conceding, and if Everton can keep their wits for 90 minutes to avoid stoppage time heartbreak, this will be their best chance at a victory in this historic rivalry in quite a while.
