Paul Merson sees ‘only one winner’ in Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool

Paul Merson has backed Liverpool to comfortably beat Everton in Wednesday night’s Merseyside derby.

The gap between the two clubs heading into the showdown at Goodison Park is a sizeable 13 points, and the Sky Sports pundit has predicted that it could be even wider come the final whistle.

Liverpool will travel across Stanley Park off the back of a commanding 4-0 win over Southampton at the weekend that left them just two point adrift of league leaders Chelsea.

For their part, Everton slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Brentford on Sunday, and are now just six points clear of the relegation zone after picking up one point from their last five top flight outings.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s derby clash, Merson believes that the Toffees’ woes could continue too.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, he said: “I can honestly see only one winner here. If you’re an Everton fan, you’re probably hoping that this game doesn’t get out of hand. There’s only one way Everton can play this game – they’ll put 11 men behind the ball and play on the counter.

“I don’t think Everton have enough to hurt Liverpool at the moment. They’ve had huge injury issues in the Premier League this season and they’ll need to work hard to get a result here. The gap between the two Merseyside clubs is massive.

“I think what Diogo Jota’s done at Liverpool is brilliant. Roberto Firmino is usually the gel that binds the front three together, and I still think he’ll play the bigger games when he’s back. At the moment, however, I can’t talk highly enough of Jota. Liverpool have far too much quality for Everton and should be able to win this Premier League match.”

Merson has predicted a 3-0 Liverpool win.