Everton have to capitalise in Merseyside derby after Liverpool provide Curtis Jones update
Everton know they will head into the first Merseyside derby of the season as underdogs but a fresh update from Liverpool on Tuesday (3 October) means they have an opportunity to capitalise on.
The Reds were defeated 2-1 at Tottenham on Saturday (30 September) in a highly-contentious match that saw them have a goal wrongly ruled out for offside after a VAR check, while they finished the game with nine men.
Liverpool appealed against a straight red card shown to Curtis Jones for an over-the-top challenge on Yves Bissouma after 26 minutes but announced via Twitter that the case had been lost.
“Curtis Jones is set to serve a three-match Premier League suspension after an appeal to overturn the red card he received at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday was unsuccessful,” the post read.
In means Jones will consequently miss this weekend’s clash at Brighton and the derby fixture against Everton at Anfield on October 21 after the international break. He will also out against Nottingham Forest.
Everton have issues of their own to contend with, of course, but Liverpool do have some midfield concerns. Cody Gakpo injured himself in the process of scoring their goal in the 2-1 loss to Spurs and while there is optimism his issue is not as bad as first feared, his availability for the game is still not yet clear.
Thiago Alcantara has still yet to feature this season due to a hip injury, while Stefan Bajetic remains on the sidelines too.
It will require a full-blooded effort from the Toffees to walk away from Anfield with all three points and their immediate concern will be defeating Bournemouth this Saturday (7 October) to end a run of four straight home defeats to start the Premier League this season.
But there is an opportunity to be pounced on and Sean Dyche will be very aware of that fact.
In other Everton news, Dyche may regret signing Ashley Young after a tough outing versus Luton.