Everton at Liverpool: Writer Prediction League

The hectic holiday period is officially over for injury-riddled Everton, but there’s no rest to be found for the weary here. Instead, Carlo Ancelotti’s reward for nabbing six points out of his first nine and keeping things close against Manchester City is a trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the FA Cup.

For an Everton side that currently sits 11th in the Premier League table, the FA Cup could represent the last chance to do something truly meaningful in the 2019-20 season — but moving on in the competition will require getting a result at Anfield.

Before we look ahead to our predictions for that match though, take a look at the results of our team’s predictions from the three matches over the festive period — Burnley, Newcastle, and Manchester City.

It was actually a relatively successful period for our writers, which led to a bit of a shake-up in the prediction league standings.

Both Matthew C. and I jumped ahead of Rachel atop the table, with Matthew one point behind me for first place. Tom and Brian F. remain in reasonable striking distance of the upper echelon, while the rest of the group is in danger of falling too far behind to have a reasonable chance to catch up before season’s end.

Our writers will have a chance to make up some ground on Sunday when Everton takes on Liverpool, where we actually have a little bit of variety among our picks.

Eight writers have Liverpool winning, with three boldly predicting an Everton victory, and Brian L. calling a draw, which would lead to a replay at Goodison Park, which might represent the Toffees’ most realistic chance for success.

Among those who have Liverpool winning, 3-1 is the most popular scoreline. Two of the three writers who predicted an Everton victory foresee a 2-1 final.

As you’d expect, Liverpool players are the most popular selection for opening goalscorer. Sadio Mane is the most frequent selection with four, while known Everton-slayer Divock Origi has three votes. Dominic Calvert-Lewin leads Everton players with two votes, while Roberto Firmino, Yerry Mina, and Richarlison each received one vote.

Calvert-Lewin is the most popular choice for Everton’s man of the match, no great surprise given his recent run of form. He leads the way with five votes, while Yerry Mina is next in line with four. Moise Kean and Jordan Pickford also received votes.