Saturday morning sees the big matchup of the weekend (although Arsenal and Spurs fans might beg to differ), with Liverpool hosting Everton in the Merseyside Derby.
This looks like a hard one to call. Liverpool have stuttered in the League of late, losing to both Aston Villa and West Ham at home and only squeezed past fifth-placed Championship side Middlesbrough following an epic League Cup penalty shootout at Anfield. Everton’s recent form has been similarly spotty, losing to Crystal Palace at home in the League and Swansea away in the League Cup since winning their opening Europa League match against Wolfsburg.
Whatever way the result goes, it is unlikely to be the 4-0 thrashing the Reds handed out to their crosstown counterparts at this fixture on Tuesday January 28th last season, with two quick-fire first half goals from Daniel Sturridge, following a Gerrard opener and capped off with a Suarez flourish just after half-time.
To see how fans of both clubs may be thinking about this game, we looked at the Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football data from this fixture last season, to see what players were picked for the lineups last year.
Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football is a game similar to “Football Manager”, but applied to live football, where you manage your favourite Club and pick lineups, bench, formations and substitutions, all in real-time. When fans play the game, the Beat Your Manager team can measure the popularity of different players, by looking at how frequently they are selected for the starting lineup, substitutes bench or not selected at all.
Formation: 4-4-2 selected by fans from both Clubs, but 4-3-3 close behind
Half of Liverpool’s fans playing the Beat Your Manager! game opted for a steady 4-4-2 formation, with 23 per cent opting for a more aggressive 4-3-3 formation. Everton fans were split evenly between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3, a third going for each option.
Goalkeeper: Howard gets the ratings well ahead of Mignolet
No surprises in goal, Tim Howard getting a clean sheet of approval from Everton fans, every Toffees fan playing the Beat Your Manager! game selecting him for the lineup.
Liverpool’s No. 1 goalkeeper Simon Mignolet similarly took up his position between the sticks, but his level of approval was lower, polling 82 per cent with Reds fans. Both real-life Managers agreed with fans, going for the identical options between the posts.
Defence: Defensive challenges still proving a headache for Rodgers
Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka were the most popular defenders, joining Howard with a perfect 100 per cent rating from Blues fans. Martin Skrtel was the next most popular defender (and jointly Liverpool’s most popular player), on 98 per cent. After Skrtel, Seamus Coleman was the next most popular defender (83 per cent), with Kolo Touré (70 per cent), Sylvain Distin (67 per cent) and Aly Cissokho (65 per cent) grouped further behind.
Liverpool faced a challenge in defence for this fixture last year, with Sakho, Agger, Johnson, José Enrique and Coates all sidelined. This defensive drought resulted in Martin Kelly just squeezing into Liverpool’s back four, with a paltry 24 per cent rating from Pool fans.
Rodgers fielded Jon Flanagan (only 3 per cent rating from Reds fans for this game) instead of Kelly, but went with the three clear choice defenders picked by the fans and substituted Kelly for Flanagan in the 73rd minute.
Rodgers has brought in new defensive blood in the form of Lovren, Manquillo and Moreno but they still have to convince. With Agger, Coates, Cissokho and Kelly now plying their trade at other clubs, tomorrow’s back four promises to be another headache for the manager.
Instead of Coleman and Distin, Martinez opted for John Stones (17 per cent fan rating) and Antolín Alcaraz (zero per cent fan rating) for this game. Stones looks likely to feature again tomorrow, as Coleman has picked up a head knock.
Midfield: Liverpool’s midfielders edge out Blues contenders
Liverpool top the bill in the popularity stakes for midfielders, with Steven Gerrard jointly LFC’s most popular player, on a 98 per cent fan rating. Everton’s Gareth Barry was a close second on 92 per cent with Blues fans, with Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho jointly taking third spot, sharing an 89 per cent rating with fans.
Steven Pienaar was Everton’s second-most popular defender for this match (83 per cent), well ahead of James McCarthy (67 per cent), and Kevin Mirallas (58 per cent), the two Everton men polling lower than Liverpool’s fourth-choice midfielder Raheem Sterling (76 per cent).
Rodgers went with all four fan-selected midfielders for this fixture last season, but tomorrow’s matchup will be a different affair; Coutinho and Henderson have picked up groin and hip injuries respectively and are in doubt. Emre Can and Joe Allen are still sidelined, but Gerrard and Sterling look set to start alongside Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic.
Martinez made one change from last year’s fan lineup, instead fielding Ross Barkley (42 per cent) and playing Mirallas in a more forward role. This year, Martinez has a settled-in Aiden McGeady to call on and the Irishman is very likely to feature in a wide role for this game, while Steven Pienaar is in doubt following a groin injury.
Forwards: Lots of changes upfront
Everton’s Steven Naismith was the most popular striker, on 100 per cent, but Martinez did not agree with fans here, instead only bringing on the forward in the 25th minute after Romelu Lukaku (Everton fans’ second-choice striker, on 67 per cent) was stretchered off with an ankle injury after Gareth Barry slid into the striker in an attempt to block Gerrard's opening goal.
Liverpool’s strike partnership of Luis Suárez (98 per cent) and Daniel Sturridge (95 per cent) were just kept off top spot, but between them rewarded both fans and Rodgers with a tally of three goals in this fixture last season.
With Suarez now at Barcelona and Sturridge appearing still far from match fit after his hamstring injury, tomorrow’s LFC forward line will probably contain Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini, while Everton new boy Samuel Eto’o is likely to make a start for the Blues.
Fan-selected lineup for Liverpool vs. Everton 2013/4 EPL Season:
