Liverpool picked up three vital points last weekend in their 2-0 victory over Bolton at Anfield, thus gaining ground on Tottenham, who only managed a point against Birmingham City.
The Premier League’s fourth place finisher gets a Champions League berth and with only two points currently separating the four contenders, this weekend’s fixtures may have far-reaching consequences. Going into the weekend the Reds are in fifth place, just a point behind Spurs. Sixth place is held by Manchester City who lag behind Liverpool only on goal difference. In seventh place is Aston Villa.
For Liverpool, however, a win is more than just a potential fourth place and Champions League entry. It is Everton they play, and a win over the Toffees reestablishes what the red side of Liverpool sees as the proper order of the universe.
Everton on good form
Everton, on the other hand, have been playing well enough of late to upset the established universal order in the land of the Scouse. The Toffees have been gaining strength. With four wins in their last five Premier League games and nine consecutive league games unbeaten, they are on a run of form that recalls last season’s fine run.
Midfielders Marouane Fellaini, Steven Pienaar and Tim Cahill have been pillars of strength and creativity. On loan American international Landon Donovan has been steady. Mikel Arteta has returned from injury, and now Everton have taken Swiss international defender Philippe Senderos on loan from Arsenal. With Louis Saha up front it’s a pretty good squad that manager David Moyes has available, 
despite injuries to key defenders Tony Hibbert and Phil Jagielka.
Everton’s European fight is confined to qualification for Europe’s lesser competition, the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup. But David Moyes recognizes the challenge his club faces in achieving that objective. "We'll wait and see where it goes, but who knows?” he said, “the start we had to the season probably makes it a real long shot.” A refreshing dose of managerial reality from the Scot, but not an impossibility.
Rafa bound for Juve?
At least Moyes’ job seems safe. Speculation on Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez’s future has been rife all season as the Reds lurched from one poor performance to another. Most recently the Spaniard has been linked with Italian giants Juventus. Benitez has refuted any possible link with Juve. But let’s face it; he has proclaimed that his Reds will finish at least fourth. If they don’t he’ll be compelled to fall on his sword. Turin might be just the place for him to seek refuge.
But the Reds have been a little better of late, and they’re now on a six league game unbeaten streak. There’s some good news for Liverpool on the injury front too. Brazilian defender Fabio Aurelio may be available. He suffered a calf injury against Stoke two weeks ago but he is training again. Fernando Torres is still injured however. His stand-ins, David Ngog and Ryan Babel, have just six goals between them. Would it be too obvious a statement to say that Torres’s scoring prowess is missed at Anfield?
Dirk Kuyt has proven capable of scoring, with eght goals this season and three the last three games. Yossi Benayoun possesses proven marksmanship, but he can’t play against Everton because of injury. And of course on his day Steven Gerrard can take a game by the scruff of its neck and teach it a lesson. But at the end of the day your strikers need to strike, and Liverpool can’t rely on the midfield to bag the goals if they want to compete at the top of the league.
Bragging rights at stake
Speculation on manager Rafa Benitez’ s future job prospects continues, but the win over Bolton takes some pressure off him. A win for Liverpool on Saturday combined with anything less than a win for Spurs will put Liverpool into fourth, right where Benitez promised they would be by the end of the season. A win also bestows local bragging rights. Everton lost to Liverpool in the earlier fixture this season, so they’ll see a win as a just reward that may have the positive side effect of moving them closer to a Europa League entry. But winning at Anfield is the real prize for the Toffees.
