Saturday 1 April 2017 12:46, UK
Sky Sports' tactics expert Danny Higginbotham believes Everton could cause Liverpool problems on the counter-attack in Saturday's Merseyside derby.
Everton have not won at Anfield since 1999, but Higginbotham believes Adam Lallana will be a "huge miss" for the hosts - and Ronald Koeman's side could take advantage.
"Liverpool are a team that are at their most vulnerable when they are attacking," he told Sky Sports. "The better the team you are, the more possession of the ball you are going to have. The more possession you have, the more open you are going to be to the counter-attack."
Higginbotham points out how Liverpool tend to leave three defenders back when they go forward, something which could play into the hands of the free-scoring Romelu Lukaku. "Lukaku is a player who could play on the shoulder very well, and that could suit Everton to play on the counter-attack," he says.
"He will fancy himself in a foot race with any of Liverpool's three defenders, so he'll be looking to go into wide areas. Centre-backs don't like to go outside the width of the 18 yard box, but Lukaku will look to do that."
Higginbotham expects to see Everton's defenders play long balls to the flanks for Lukaku to latch onto, but he also highlights the importance of midfield runners Ross Barkley and Tom Davies providing support.
"If you're going to get the ball into wide areas, you've got to have willing runners from the midfield areas and that's one thing that this Everton team has definitely got," he says. "That's where I think the partnership that Barkley and Davies have is brilliant."
As well as providing support for Lukaku, Higginbotham expects to see the energetic Davies running ahead of Barkley, taking opposition defenders with him and giving Barkley time and space to pick his passes.
"It will be interesting to see how all that unfolds," adds Higginbotham. "I fully expect Liverpool to have the large majority of the possession, Everton to sit back and be compact, then look to turn defence into attack quickly."
Watch the video above for Higginbotham's full preview.
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