English Premier
2026-04-19 - Everton vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 19th April 2026 - Kick Off 2pm
This game is live on TV
Everton
A late equaliser in West London has maintained Everton's push towards European Football, but the second Merseyside derby of the season is all about closing the gap to rivals Liverpool. David Moyes wants Everton to compete in any UEFA competition, much as his West Ham United team did, but some fans will be thinking much higher than that with the Champions League positions within reach.
Like many clubs just outside the top six places in the Premier League table, Everton fans will have noted that there is a chance that 6th may yet be enough to earn a spot in the League Phase of the Champions League. The Toffees are 8th in the Premier League table and just a point behind Chelsea in 6th and 5 points behind rivals Liverpool in 5th place. Improving the 6-4-6 record at Hill Dickinson Stadium is the focus for Everton who host Liverpool in their new home for the first time.
Everton have lost 1 of the last 5 Premier League games and picked up 10 points from a possible 15 in that run to spark the European hopes. They had not won any of 7 at home in all competitions, but Everton have since beaten Burnley and Chelsea here without conceding a goal.
Carlos Alcaraz is a doubt and long-term injury absentee Jack Grealish are the only two issues in the Everton squad ahead of the derby.
Liverpool
The poor performance in the Champions League Quarter Final First Leg always put Liverpool in a difficult position, but they gave Paris Saint-Germain a bit of a scare in the Second Leg at Anfield. Arne Slot has felt his team have got little rub of the green this season and that was the case again on Tuesday when a VAR intervention overturned a Penalty awarded to Liverpool with the Second Leg goalless.
Scoring that moment may have changed the entire Quarter Final outlook, but Liverpool were soon behind and they are now solely focused on the Premier League with six fixtures to be played. The home win last weekend has pushed Liverpool 4 points clear of Chelsea in the race for the Champions League and that is the minimum aim for Arne Slot if he is to retain his job as manager of the club. The Reds make the short journey to the new home of their rivals with a 6-3-7 away record.
Liverpool's win over Fulham is the only one they have earned in the last 5 games in all competitions and the other 4 matches have all ended in defeat. Scoring goals has been something of a surprising issue for Liverpool and they have lost 4 away games in succession and managed to move the scoreboard just once. Liverpool scored a late winner at the City Ground in the Premier League at the end of February, but have lost at Wolves and Brighton by the same 2-1 scoreline since that win.
Alisson is expected to miss another game, while Hugo Ekitike looked to have picked up a very serious injury in the Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg that could rule him out for months.
Head to Head
Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 at Anfield earlier this season.
Everton scored an injury time equaliser in the last Merseyside derby hosted at Goodison Park and they were beaten just once in the last 8 played at home.
Prediction
There is always motivation for both sets of players when the Merseyside derby is played, but you can add in the factor of Champions League Football being a target for both clubs to this second derby of the season.
It is the first hosted by Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium and a win for the home team would mean they are just 2 points behind rivals Liverpool for the 5th Champions League place that has been confirmed for Premier League teams.
David Moyes has to be given a lot of credit for the job he has done on his return to Everton, but also for trying to raise the expectation levels. He has made no secret of his desire to take Everton into European Football and has stated that a club of this size should be targeting that every season, but to get them back into the Champions League and perhaps at the expense of their great rivals would be a huge achievement.
After the money spent by Liverpool as defending Champions last summer, Everton fans could not have expected to be this close to their rivals with six Premier League games left to play.
It is partly down to a solid campaign from the blue half of the City, but also has a lot to do with Liverpool's slide this season.
Liverpool could not produce a famous European night at Anfield as they were beaten by Paris Saint-Germain for a second time in the Champions League and that keeps the pressure on Arne Slot. The manager has not been happy with some of the decisions he feels have gone against his team, while the injury to Hugo Ekitike looked a bad one and could keep another high-profile signing out for months.
His team put in a huge effort on Tuesday and that will have sapped some energy, but Liverpool's fans will be reminding the players what this fixture means to them and that should provide motivation.
In recent weeks, Liverpool have really struggled away from home- they have lost 4 away games in a row and failed to score in 3 of those, and this Everton team will have plenty of confidence having won back to back home League games with clean sheets.
They have also been given a real chasing in defeats at Brighton, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, but Arne Slot's team are unlikely to be placed under that constant pressure by Everton.
Respect has to be given to Everton for the way they have been performing, while the 3-0 home win over Chelsea shows what The Toffees can do against Champions League chasing opponents.
Merseyside derby games at Goodison Park had seen Everton at their best and they will hope to take that to Hill Dickinson Stadium right away.
Everton only lost 1 of the last 8 at home against Liverpool, but 6 of those have ended in draws.
Both teams may believe they can do enough to earn the victory and the narrow lean on recent form has to be with Everton. However, they are not a team that are going to blow past teams like they did against Chelsea very often and that will give Liverpool their own opportunities and it really does feel like the draw is a real player again.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Everton 1-1 Liverpool
