Liverpool ceded ground in the Premier League title race in midweek, with Caoimhin Kelleher’s late error allowing Fabian Schar to score from an acute angle and give Newcastle United a point at St. James’ Park.
The hosts were well worth their point, truth be told, but Liverpool will be frustrated by the manner in which their winning streak was sliced, for Mohamed Salah had swept the visitors into a lead with two goals and an assist for Curtis Jones.
Having previously won seven on the trot in all competitions and secured successive Anfield victories over Real Madrid and Manchester City last week, Liverpool have established a commanding position in the Premier League and the Champions League, at the summit of both tables.
However, Arsenal and Chelsea are snapping at their feet in joint-second-place (albeit from a seven-point distance) while Pep Guardiola’s City are masters at putting together imperious runs of form toward the business end of the campaign.
Liverpool cannot afford to lose more ground in the Premier League. They must defeat Sean Dyche’s men. It won’t be easy: this is the Toffees’ final season at Goodison Park, and oh how they’d love to silence the Redmen one last time on their fabled home soil.
Liverpool team news
Slot and his squad will of course be confident in their quality and chances of defeating their neighbours, but Liverpool do have a host of frustrating injuries to contend with.
Alisson Becker is on the cusp of a comeback, but is not quite ready. Kelleher has been brilliant between the sticks in the Brazilian’s absence, and will be desperate to put Wednesday’s blunder behind him.
Further issues abound across the outfield ranks, with defenders Kostas Tsimikas, Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley all out of contention.
Moreover, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa are still sidelined up front in a damaging blow; in particular, Jota’s clinical edge would be greatly appreciated. Even though the Portuguese is not yet ready to return, Darwin Nunez must not reprise his starting berth at the front of the attack.
Why Darwin Nunez must be dropped
Nunez has some particular qualities that make him an interesting asset to have up front. He’s lively, energetic and tenacious, but the Uruguay international also struggles to produce clinical results.
Across 18 matches under Slot’s wing, the 25-year-old has posted three goals and two assists. Not great. Against Newcastle, Nunez’s predatory sense (or lack thereof), proved to be Liverpool’s undoing, for he squandered opportunities and failed to produce the fluent football required for the system to purr.
The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle branded him with a 5/10 match rating after a troubled St. James’ Park showing, criticising Liverpool’s record signing for his lack of influence and missed chances, albeit acknowledging his work rate and determination.
This forthcoming fixture is so important, and it’s for that season that Slot must push him back to the bench.
While several key options are sidelined, there are several choices to pick from. The answer to the quandary has to be unleashing Luis Diaz as the focal frontman to terrorise Jarrad Branthwaite and co.
Why Luis Diaz must start up front
With Nunez still erratic and Jota still injured (typical cases both), Slot must indeed unleash his Colombian menace at number nine.
The highly-charged Diaz has been in fine fettle this season, starting with a bang. It’s true that he’s fizzled out across the past couple of months, having gone nine Premier League matches without a goal, but he still carries a significant threat and scored a hat-trick from centre-forward against Bayer Leverkusen last month.
He’s got the shifty movement and electric pace to cause problems at the front of the ship, emulating, in a way, the role that Nunez plays so well for Liverpool.
The thing is, Diaz’s hat-trick matches Nunez’s total haul across the current term, with his bluntness in the final third starting to see Reds supporters’ frustrations boil over.
With Cody Gakpo thriving on the left flank, it makes perfect sense to play Diaz in the middle, where he can act as a kind of roving focal point to create opportunity for overlaps, namely from Gakpo and Salah.
As per FBref, the Colombia international also ranks among the top 4% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion and the top 8% for shot-creating actions per 90, highlighting the technical skill and link-up quality that he will bring to the Goodison grass.
Left winger
15
8
2
Centre-forward
2
3
0
Right winger
3
1
0
It goes without saying that Liverpool will see more of the ball than their counter-attacking neighbours, but this does not mean Everton cannot win. They will look for openings and seek to break Liverpool’s high line apart. Then charge. Then pounce.
Liverpool, as funny as it sounds, will need to ensure they succeed when presented with counter-counter transitions, which would be when, say, Virgil van Dijk dispossesses Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the break and looks to reorient the flow of the play toward Jordan Pickford’s goal.
The £55k-per-week Diaz will be essential in making the most of such patterns, for he is crisp on the ball and immensely creative besides. The 27-year-old also carried a deceptive strength, and won’t be easily outhustled by the likes of the heavyset Branthwaite.
Harking back to Nunez a moment, take a look at the clip below. It’s great that Liverpool scored and all that, but Nunez’s sloppy side pass almost broke down a promising passage.
Given that the Uruguayan only completed eight passes across 90 minutes on Tyneside, there’s a case to be made that he might prove ineffective against a Toffees team that will need to be outstyled in Liverpool’s final third, broken down and breached.
Branthwaite – who notably diverted Marcus Rashford’s effort into the net at Old Trafford last week – has yet to recover last season’s imperious defensive level, but he’s still a titanic young centre-back and will be tasked with nullifying whoever Slot deploys at centre-forward. Would Nunez really have greater success than Diaz in open play?
Described as a “livewire” by journalist Peter Hall, Diaz’s fleet-footed style, his tricks and slipperiness, could be what Liverpool need to leave Goodison Park one final time with three points in the bag.
Branthwaite – who Liverpool have been linked with in recent times – could well be in for a tough afternoon…
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