Everton vs. Liverpool: Predicted lineups, team news and Premier League score prediction

Everton may flirt with the drop on a regular basis, but no matter how dire circumstances seem, they refuse to go down.

In all fairness, last season's 15th-place finished would have been 10th if not for a 10-point deduction for violating financial regulations. This season, the Toffees have welcomed back David Moyes for another rescue job. So far, that move has been a tremendous success — his men have secured three Premier League wins in succession, including an admirable victory over a much pricier Tottenham Hotspur. The Merseyside Derby is one of those fixtures where pundits say "form goes out the window." Generally, the absence of form as a factor is considered an advantage for an underdog like Everton. But they way things stand, they may not mind if form did end up having an impact on proceedings.

The atmosphere at Goodison Park is sure to be even more electric than usual on Wednesday, this being the last time Everton will welcome bitter crosstown rivals Liverpool into the historic ground. By adding a potent goalscoring threat to their existing penchant for scrapping it out with Liverpool, Moyes' men have a real chance at bullying the Reds out of all three points.

The star in the scoring department for Everton this season has been Iliman Ndiaye. The left winger, who joined from Marseille over the summer, has eight goals on the season — and even when he's not scoring has dazzled with his deft touch and playmaking ability. With Beto beginning to come good on his targetman reputation, Everton have enough going forward to punish Liverpool on the counter. Look out for a few Pickford bombs into the opposite end.

Will Arne Slot's weekend sacrifice pay off?

The FA Cup story of the weekend is Plymouth Argyle's giant-killing of Liverpool on Sunday. In their 1-0 win over the Reds, bottom-of-the-championship Plymouth conjured all of the magic of the Cup — defending manfully and throwing themselves at the game for 99 minutes, even spilling blood in the case of Nikola Katic and his now-missing tooth. It's a beautiful feat that really should be celebrated.

But, it must be said, Plymouth's resounding victory was won against a fully-rotated Liverpool squad. Unlike in the case of Manchester City in their match versus Leyton Orient, Arne Slot not only put out a second-string side mostly made up of academy talent, but he also brought only one senior player on the bench. His team paid the price accordingly, and have exited the FA Cup as a result. All things considered, however, both Slot and the Liverpool faithful will consider this a permissible sacrifice, since it provided the first team with some much-needed rest ahead of a massive fixture against Everton.

The Liverpool you may have seen on Sunday is not the same Liverpool that will take the field at Goodison, both in terms of personnel and attitude. Everton know this, of course. But knowing something and being able to stop it are two very different things.

Everton vs. Liverpool news, predicted lineup and score

Everton's current list of injured players includes a number of veterans — Dwight McNeil, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Seamus Coleman among them. But fullback Vitalii Mykolenko should be back in action after suffering a calf strain, looking to lock up the dynamism of Liverpool's wingers.

For Liverpool, defender Joe Gomez made a brief return against Plymouth at the weekend, even wearing the captain's armband before being forced off with some sort of strain. While this was most likely due to an abundance of caution, we shouldn't expect him to be in the squad on Wednesday. Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile is working through a minor tweak of his own. He's considered touch-and-go for the Derby, but even if he's not named in the starting 11, he will likely be an option off the bench.

Everton predicted line up: Pickford, O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Garner, Gueye, Lindstrøm, Doucouré, Ndiaye, Beto

Liverpool predicted line up: Alisson, Bradley, Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Salah, Diaz, Gakpo

Predicted Score: Everton 1- 2 Liverpool

How to watch Everton vs. Liverpool

• Date: Wednesday, Feb. 12
• Start Time: 2:30 p.m. EST
• Location: Goodison Park — Liverpool, England
• Watch: USA Network

Kickoff for the match is 2:30 p.m. ET, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The game will be broadcast exclusively on USA Network.