Everton v Liverpool Preview: Two Managers in Need of a Derby Victory

Goodison Park, Sunday, 1330 GMT

EVERTON:

It has not been a good week for Everton Football Club. Not only did a defeat at Hull City on Wednesday night make it just one win from 10 matches, the club also had their ambitious plans for a £400m development, including a new stadium, kicked out by the government.

Manager David Moyes accepts that the club is currently going through an extremely rough patch and that his side are under-prepared for a visit of local rivals Liverpool - and he is also realistic enough to accept that Everton need to start turning their season around quickly or they will be pulled into an ugly relegation battle.

He said: "We have to talk about relegation. There is no point avoiding it or hiding our heads in the sand.

"If we don't start to play better then we will be in relegation trouble. You can't hide the fact that if you keep losing games then you will be relegated. You have to stop it and get into a position to prevent it happening."

Regardless of Moyes's gloomy outlook, he is looking forward to the visit of Liverpool and is hoping his side's season can restart with a win against their Stanley Park neighbours.

He added: "It is the sort of game that we are privileged to be involved in. It is an opportunity to try and get a win against our local rivals, but I am trying to focus more on Everton than I am Liverpool."

Strategy: Stop this season from falling to pieces by winning. Nothing short of a victory will be good enough for Everton. Not only because Mersey pride is at stake in the contest but because three points would be the perfect antidote to the negativity surrounding the club at present.

Moyes needs his big game players such as Tim Cahill, Louis Saha and Yakubu to all step up and attempt to defeat a Liverpool side still reeling from their Champions League exit in the week. And they must simply start scoring more goals.

They have hit only nine at home so far this season in six matches, a figure that is by no means a disgrace. But, since they have conceded 10 - and won only twice as a consequence - then it is clear that better finishing is required. And that is again where Cahill, Saha, Yakubu and also Marouane Fellaini come in.

Injury Update: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Fellaini will both return from suspension to give Everton a boost but they are still going to be without the likes of Phil Jagielka, Phil Neville, Leon Osman and Victor Anichebe who face a long wait on the sidelines. Steven Pienaar is pushing for a return to the starting XI although teenager Jack Rodwell could also be out after limping off against Hull City in the week.

LIVERPOOL:
This is the 13th Merseyside derby Rafa Benitez has been involved in, but the Spaniard is hoping it will bring him luck after a week to forget.

After being eliminated from the group stages of the Champions League, Benitez simply must win at Goodison. Lose against David Moyes for the third time and Benitez risks losing a few more of the fans who still back him.

Forget the Merseyside derby, this game has been labelled as the Miseryside derby as both sides approach it in dreadful form. Yet despite being eliminated from Europe's top club competition, Liverpool head into the weekend on the back of a rare victory after defeating Debrecen in Hungary.

Steven Gerrard, who suffered an injury on his last visit to Goodison back in February, is calling on fans to stay patient and stick with the team. "We're all aware the season isn't going the way we would want it to," said Gerrard.

"We're really disappointed to have gone out of the Champions League and we're far from happy with our form in the Premier League as well. "But the only way to turn things around is by sticking together. "We've shown in the past what we can achieve when we do that.

"If there's one positive about the difficult time we've been having, it's that we've all pulled together. "The manager, the staff and the players are all working as hard as we can to try and get the improvement we've been looking for.

"It won't be easy, as we've given ourselves plenty to do, but we still have the confidence and belief that we can finish in the top four."

Strategy: Liverpool have painful memories of their last visit to Goodison, Dan Gosling 's 118th minute winner sending them out of the FA Cup in a fourth round replay nearly 10 months ago. Yet the scoreline told only half the story.

After losing Gerrard to injury after just 16 minutes, Lucas did his side no favours by getting himself sent off. The Brazilian must learn from that experience and remain calm in what promises to be another physical battle between the two neighbours.

Liverpool have not recorded a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League since last May - and even then Jamie Carragher and Alvaro Arbeloa were involved in an amazing onfield flare-up at West Brom.

Carragher, Daniel Agger and, if he plays, Martin Skrtel, will ease the pressure on their manager if they manage to frustrate Everton.

Injury Update: Fernando Torres, who destroyed Everton with both goals in Liverpool's 2-0 league win at Goodison last season, will face a late fitness test on his troublesome groin problem which has forced him to miss his club's last three matches. "We will check him tomorrow. He's training well, he's been with the physios and we'll check after the training session," said Benitez on Friday.

Ryan Babel misses out with an ankle problem while Albert Riera is rated 50-50 after rerturning to training after a hamstring problem.

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