Joe Ellis

Fri 22 April 2022 14:40, UK

Everton continue their bid for Premier League survival on Sunday as they make the short trip across the city to take on Liverpool at Anfield.

The Toffees rescued a late draw at home to Leicester in midweek thanks to a scrambled Richarlison effort but Burnley’s home win against Southampton last night has kept them firmly in trouble.

Their Merseyside rivals though are chasing the title and dismantled Manchester United 4-0 on Tuesday and looked imperious as they did so.

It’s not all sunshine and roses for Jurgen Klopp though who revealed today that the fitness of Roberto Firmino is a major concern ahead of the derby this weekend.

“Bobby is getting better and better. It’s uncomfortable, painful,” Klopp said, as quoted by the Mirror.

“It’s still two days to go so maybe, if Bobby gives the thumbs up then he may be involved. We’ll wait for that but I think after a few days that will be possible.”

Pray

After everything we have seen this season, there probably isn’t all that much hope for Frank Lampard’s Toffees in this game.

The red side of the city are enjoying a fantastic run of form while those donning blue are fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table.

Maybe Lampard will be preparing to set up in defence and hope to keep Klopp’s men out for as long as possible but United tried that in midweek and we all saw how that ended.

The alternative is to go very attacking but that will end even worse with the sheer quality of players in the home dressing room able to pick the counter-attacks apart every time.

But this is the Merseyside derby and all it takes is a little bit of passion and anything can happen on the day. Perhaps now is the time to start praying that Sunday will be an off day for Liverpool.

In other Everton news, reports are suggesting that Donny van de Beek’s Goodison Park future has been decided by his parent club.

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