Everton v Liverpool predictions (November 23, 2013 - Premier League)

The Merseyside derby is one of England’s best rivalries so we can expect fireworks when Liverpool visit Everton on Saturday.

EVERTON v LIVERPOOL: MATCH PREVIEW
The Toffees enter the weekend just three points behind second placed Liverpool so there are massive points up for grabs for them. The Toffees have only been on the losing side once in the league so far this season, with Manchester City beating them 3-1

The hosts are unbeaten in their last four league matches, but their last two have ended in scoreless draws. Goodison Park is a very tough place for opponents to play and Everton already have a win over Chelsea this season on their home pitch. Martinez’s men have kept a clean sheet in their past three encounters.

Everton's boss could name an unchanged line-up but Ross Barkley will hope that he can return to the starting line-up having missed out to Leon Osman in recent weeks. Antolin Alcaraz is now fully fit but the same can't be said for former Wigan teammate Arouna Kone

Liverpool head into Saturday's derby on the back of a 4-0 win over Fulham which took them up to second in the Barclays Premier League table. Anyway, from the six away matches they've played this season, Liverpool have managed only two wins, with Arsenal convincingly beating them 2-0 on their last away day.

With no fresh injury concerns Brendan Rodgers has no reason to change the XI that thrashed Fulham 4-0 before the international break. Liverpool's manager has only revealed that Daniel Sturridge will be assessed - the forward has been playing with a dead leg for a number of weeks. Jose Enrique is set to miss out for the Reds while COutinho should retains his role on the left flank.

Suarez has been scoring for fun recently and has eight in his past six Liverpool games. He has been offered the use of John W Henry’s private jet ahead of the derby, with the Uruguayan striker having been involved in a World Cup play-off against Jordan this week.

Of the 9 Merseyside derbies that Liverpool have lost in the Premier League, 7 of them have been at Goodison Park. The Reds however, have only lost 1 of their last 13 Merseyside derbies in in the Premier League (W7 D5 L1).

EVERTON v LIVERPOOL: PROBABLE LINEUPS
Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; McCarthy, Barry; Mirallas, Osman, Pienaar; Lukaku

Liverpool (4-4-2): Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Cissokho; Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho; Suarez, Sturridge


EVERTON v LIVERPOOL: TEAM FORM
Everton
9 Nov 2013    Crystal Palace 0 - Everton 0    EPL
3 Nov 2013    Everton 0 - Tottenham 0    EPL
26 Oct 2013    Aston Villa 0 - Everton 2    EPL
19 Oct 2013    Everton 2 - Hull City 1    EPL
5 Oct 2013    Manchester City 3 - Everton 1    EPL

Liverpool
9 Nov 2013    Liverpool 4 - Fulham 0    EPL
2 Nov 2013    Arsenal FC 2 - Liverpool 0    EPL
26 Oct 2013    Liverpool 4 - West Bromwich Albion 1    EPL
19 Oct 2013    Newcastle United 2 - Liverpool 2    EPL
5 Oct 2013    Liverpool 3 - Crystal Palace 1    EPL

England vs. Germany: Date, Time, and Preview

In a week when France went down 2-0 on aggregate against Ukraine and Portugal squeaked by Sweden, 1-0, heading into the second leg of the European World Cup playoffs, one of the most intriguing matches of the international break remains a friendly between Germany and England.

While neither team is at full strength, there is enough star power and history between these two European powers to make a mid-week friendly a premier matchup. Let's break down this contest.

When: Tuesday, November 19 at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. GMT)

Where: Wembley Stadium, London, England



Key Storylines

Germany won't have all of their regulars available and will put out a more "experimental" side, as Mesut Ozil, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer won't play in this match according to manager Joachim Loew (via ESPN).

Sami Khedira will also be missing in action for Germany—and won't appear for Real Madrid for the rest of the season—after tearing his ACL in a friendly against Italy.

Of course, this is a German side that still features Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels, among others, so they'll roll out a competitive, talented starting 11.

Meanwhile, there might be a bit of bad blood in this contest despite the game simply being a friendly.

Germany's Andre Schurrle appeared to imply that England's best player, Wayne Rooney, wouldn't even crack Germany's starting lineup, noting (via ESPN) that "Rooney is a great player, but we have good quality, too, in every position, and maybe twice, so I don't know if he would play."

He later backtracked from those comments and said his meaning was not to suggest that Rooney wasn't good enough for Germany, but those shots may have already been fired.

And England will be getting a boost ahead of this contest, as in-form striker Daniel Sturridge appears to be fit. He'll add some extra firepower for this English team, potentially pairing with Rooney at forward.

England is also dealing with some injuries, namely on the wings where Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remain unavailable. Thus, Sturridge could even potentially feature out wide in an effort to add his offensive threat to the lineup.

Prediction

Neither one of these teams come into this game at full strength, but both are still rolling out talented enough squads to make this a must-watch friendly. England will obviously have an advantage playing in front of their home crowd, but this German side is insanely deep and will be a handful.

In the end, expect an equal and entertaining match that doesn't disappoint but also doesn't provide any bragging rights.

This one will end in a draw, 1-1.

Portugal vs Sweden Match Preview & Prediction (16 Nov ~ 03:45)

Portugal vs Sweden
Football : World Cup Playoff
Friday 16th November 2013 – Kickoff time 03:45

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Match Preview :

The build up to this match has been dominated by two players - Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Sweden, who will be playing in the World Cup Finals in Brazil next year?

Portugal are in this playoff after they suffered the defeat in Russia and the draw in Israel which was their own doing. Also if you take into account the two home draws against Israel and Northern Ireland and if they had just won one of those they would have come out tops of the group instead of Russia.

Even though Portugal start this match as favourites there are still very unpredictable. One player whom they will hope will score for the home side will be Cristiano Ronaldo. In the qualifiers they came through scoring at least two per game.

Sweden finished second in the group behind Germany and are goon on their travels. They have had a W3 D1 L1 record.

Sweden managed a draw against Germany where despite being four goals down, they fought back to make it 4-4! They will hope that Ibrahimovic will score for them in this match.

When these two sides come up against each other in the past, Sweden currently have a 6-3 lead. Sweden have netted 24 goals compared to the 14 managed by Portugal, in their fifteen previous meetings.

The last time these two sides met was back in World Cup 2010 qualifying, when they played out two 0-0 draws

Form:
Portugal - W D W L D W
Sweden - - W W W W W L

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Portugal 1-1 Sweden

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Sweden and accept the 3/4 ball here.