Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
We’re kicking off the New Year and a new decade of football with the third round of the FA Cup. It’s hard to ignore Liverpool’s enviable position in their domestic league. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that Liverpool haven’t been quite as untouchable elsewhere. They drew against Napoli in the Champions League back in November and fell to Aston Villa 5-0 in a humiliating outing in the EFL Cup.
With that said, their form elsewhere has been as close to flawless as you’re likely to see. Liverpool are unbeaten in 50 home games, winning 40 of them. This means that the gauntlet is well and truly laid down for Everton, who – despite many moments of brilliance – have been unable to touch Liverpool’s level of consistency. However, victories over Newcastle and Burnley, alongside respectable outings against Arsenal and Manchester City, means this is far from a done deal.
Liverpool vs Everton Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Everton
While you would be foolish to write Everton off here, the fact is that we’re dealing with what is most likely, rather than what is possible. Although their recent close encounter with Wolves showed that Liverpool can be vulnerable, it’s hard to look at their domestic record and come to any other conclusion than a win for the current top dogs of the Premier League. They’ll also want to show they can be just as consistent elsewhere. Nonetheless, Everton have proven themselves tough to beat time and time again. With that in mind, our scoreline prediction is 2-1 to Liverpool.
Our recommended tip: Both teams score
Not only do we think both teams are likely to score here because this has the potential to be a close game, but also due to their previous encounter. We’ll go into more detail about this in the following section, but it took place mere weeks ago and showed that these two sides have a high possibility of an action-packed result. On top of that, Everton have proven their ability to break through the defences of tough teams – as we saw recently against City – even if, as we expect to be the case here, they weren’t able to come away with the victory. You’ll find good 27/50 odds on this result from Betfair.
Previous matches
That previous encounter was indeed an exciting one. Taking place on the 4th December, it saw Liverpool best Everton 5-2 in an enjoyable, if ultimately one-sided, outing. Unfortunately for the Toffees, that is a statement that can be applied to their matches in general. Despite some serious efforts over the last decade, they have only been victorious on a single occasion in the last 10 years, and that was back in 2010. Realistically, you have to go all the way back to the mid-nineties to find a time where they were on an equal footing in this fixture.
Top 3 FA Cup Bookies
Players to watch: Sadio Mané & Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Liverpool: Sadio Mané
For Liverpool fans, we don’t really have to explain why Sadio Mané is our player to watch for this or pretty much any other game he’s involved in. With that said, his match-winning goal in their tough contest against Wolves – alongside his Man of the Match performance in their last contest against the Toffees – means that he’s in a prime position to be an especially dangerous foil to the scrappy antics of Everton.
Everton: Dominic Calvert-Lewin
He’s been one of Everton’s better players throughout this season and is the kind of talent who can become truly special when given a chance to shine. This seems to be happening more often under Carlo Ancelotti. However, he’s been brilliant far longer than that, thriving in tough situations as we saw in his also excellent outing against Chelsea at the start of December.