Everton injuries & suspensions ahead of Merseyside derby

It has been yet another season to forget for Everton so far, but they finally have a launchpad to suggest they might be able to avoid an embarrassing relegation from the Premier League.

Everton beat league leaders Arsenal 1-0 last time out thanks to a header from James Tarkowski and there is renewed hope that Sean Dyche can get enough out of the squad to remove them from the relegation scrap.

This is an unusual game for the Toffees to gauge as they take on a Liverpool side in truly awful form at Anfield. They are without a win in four league games and three of the last four have been defeats.

There is a genuine chance for Everton to get a win at Anfield here as they will feel like the more confident side. It is a very hard one to call.

Just like Liverpool, Everton do not have any suspensions to contend with for the upcoming game. That could well change for the next match as they may need to cleverly share the yellow cards around against their neighbours.

Considering Everton’s 1-0 win against Arsenal which was at home, it seems likely that Dyche will set up to do exactly the same against Liverpool at Anfield.

He explained after his first game in charge how much he enjoys that type of victory, telling MOTD: “I like these 1-0 wins. A lot of work has been done this week and the players’ honesty has been invaluable to us. There had to be a base to work from. Our plan? Stop it going in our net, put it in their net.

“We tried to plan five weeks of pre-season into a week. We gave the players a lot of information and they have accepted that. It’s a starting point – that is all it is.”

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still easing his way back from a long injury layoff but he did play the first 60 minutes against Arsenal and there is hope he could make a similar contribution here against Liverpool.

There are four players back in training for the Toffees who are in contention to play a role against Liverpool but Dyche will know it’s a risk throwing recovering players into a feisty local derby that has a lot on the line for both teams.

The players in question are Andros Townsend, James Garner, Michael Keane and Nathan Patterson. If fit enough, Townsend could be a good explosive option from the bench late in the game for Dyche.