Super Sunday marks two big matches as Chelsea host Manchester United and Everton host fellow city rivals Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby. The Meseyside derby has been labeled both as the friendly derby and the dirtiest one. This derby is the longest standing derby in the top flight of English Football from 1961-62. The derby was called friendly due to the fact that there were Liverpool and Everton fans in the same family and hence there was no segregation of fans. Once
during such a derby the fans of both clubs were singing ”Merseyside, Merseyside. Manchester are you watching?” In the recent years the Derby has been overshadowed by the number of cards it has produced. In the last 15 meetings there have been 20 sending offs and current club captains Phil Neville and Steven Gerrard have both been sent off twice in their career.

Merseyside Derby – Preview

Steven Gerrard is the player with the maximum goals in a derby among the current players. Liverpool have more wins than Everton in the Derby so far with 88.

Even before the derby the fans of both clubs were involved in an emotional affair after the verdict of the Hillsborough disaster.

Everton won the hearts of millions of Liverpool fans when they paid a fitting tribute to the 96 who lost their lives. Everton are currently 5th in the table with 15 points and Liverpool are 13th with 9 points. Liverpool are slowly crawling their way back to winning ways with back to back wins over Reading in the league and Anzhi in Europa League. Everton will be looking to keep their momentum going from their previous matches too. Goodison Park has been a tough
place for visiting clubs so far this season.

In the 2011-12 season these two teams met thrice – twice in the league and once in the FA cup semi – final with Liverpool winning all the three. In the corresponding fixture last year Liverpool won 2-0 and Everton’s Jack Rodwell (now at Manchester City) was sent off. Considering Liverpool’s wavering form the match looks in balance and might turn out to be an exciting one.

Team News

Liverpool – Liverpool will be without injured Lucas Leiva and Martin Kelly, who are both out for a long period. Goal Keeper Pepe Reina missed his first league game after joining the club through injury last week and Brad Jones replaced him. Considering Reina’s experience he might make the team. Glen Johnson was taken off at half time during Thursday’s Europa League match due to a small injury concern. His involvement in today is unknown. Rodgers might have to rotate his squad a bit as most of his first team players took part in the Europa League match.

Everton – Everton have less concerns than Liverpool. They will miss Pienaar due to his suspension and the involvement of the inform Belgian Felliani is still a question mark. He was sideline for 3 weeks with an injury. It is up to David Moyes to risk playing him.

Tags: Chelsea, English Football, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Merseyside Derby, Steven Gerrard