Match Preview: Everton vs Newcastle & Crystal Palace vs Liverpool
LiverpoolWorld's George Priestman speaks to NewcastleWorld's Kurt Leyland and LondonWorld's Rahman Osman to preview both Merseyside fixtures ahead of the weekend.
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00:00This is George Priestman for Liverpool World back with another Merseyside Premier League preview
00:05ahead of the weekend. This time it is Everton versus Newcastle and Liverpool against Crystal
00:11Palace. But before we jump on to Liverpool, I'm joined by Kurt Leyland from Newcastle World to
00:16dive into the Everton game that takes place at Goodison Park this weekend. First off,
00:22let's just jump in with, I guess, the Man City game very quickly. If you just give me a very
00:28quick summary about how the draw with the reigning champions is just being received by the fans.
00:35So, for me, probably, from most fans' perspective, it's probably the best performance of the season
00:40so far. I think it was a lot more like the Newcastle we saw when they finished fourth,
00:47a lot more pressing, a lot more intensity. And it strangely coped well without Alexander Isaac,
00:54with Gordon kind of playing as a makeshift centre-forward. So,
00:58yeah, a lot more encouraging, particularly after the Fulham game,
01:01which was a really poor performance. So, yeah, it's well received.
01:08I think so, yeah, definitely a big result for them. But this is going to be a very different
01:13game. And team news is something that is dominating the headlines from our end,
01:20definitely. There's a lot of good that went up from us with the potential 10 players could be
01:26missing. Can you just sort of fill us in a little bit on where we're at with that and
01:31what you think might clear up before the weekend?
01:34Yeah, so, injury-wise, Isaac's probably a little bit of a doubt. He's got like a toe injury and he
01:42hasn't looked fully sharp this season. So, he's not expected to play and it's more than likely
01:48Gordon will cover in the centre-forward position. Other than that, from our perspective,
01:55it's basically just a case of long-term injuries that have kind of hung over from last season. So,
02:00there's Sven Botman, Louis Smiley, Jamal Asels, and I think that's it that are out, and Matt Target
02:07as well. But Isaac is a huge miss. There's that game a couple of seasons ago at Goodison Park
02:15where he dribbled past about five or six players and laid it on a plate for a tap-in for someone
02:20during the 4-1 victory at Goodison. I'm sure Everton fans will be very happy that he won't
02:25be available. It's very interesting that the ex-Everton player Gordon could be playing in a
02:30different role, considering just Everton's right-back position has been a real issue.
02:35It would have been really a lot more of a threat, I think, if we saw Gordon, someone who's young,
02:41who's direct, running behind, up against someone like Ashley Young, who he probably would be up
02:45against if he was playing off that left wing. Is there anyone else who could play down the centre?
02:51The only other possibility is a youngster signed from Chefs United, so William Azula.
02:58I think he's only really played in the cup against Wimbledon, and he's still very raw, very young.
03:05So I don't think he'll start. It's a possibility to come off from the bench, but I think realistically
03:12the front three will be Gordon through the centre, Barnes on the left, and probably either Murphy or
03:18Almiron on the right-hand side. Still a very mobile front three, which I think will give the
03:25Everton centre-backs a different threat. Someone like Tarkovsky would probably relish the idea of
03:30going up against someone like Isak, someone who's big and strong and will give him a direct challenge.
03:35But I think those movements from a mobile front three could also cause Everton a lot of trouble
03:41as well. But someone who Everton are much better with than without is Jared Brantley. He returned
03:47last weekend, and surprise, surprise, they won. That's what happens when he plays. Often Everton
03:53are just on a much better side with him in it. They got the fourth-best record in the Premier
03:57League in terms of defence last season, with him playing 35 games across the season. I guess
04:03with Brantford coming back, I guess it's just a blow for Newcastle to come up against Everton,
04:09who are going to be stronger than they have been probably at any point this season so far.
04:15Yeah, I think definitely it's not the best time to play them with him returning, especially with
04:19him getting 90 minutes against Palace just to get him up to speed. So from Gordon's perspective,
04:26against Michael Keane, there'd be a clear pace advantage. I still think he's probably faster
04:31than Brantford, but he's a very good defender. I actually did an opinion piece when he got dropped
04:37out of the full England squad about how he should have gone, maybe ahead of someone like Louis
04:42Dunne. So yeah, it's definitely a big boost for Everton. Yeah, I agree on that one as well. I
04:48don't know how he didn't get to go, because if you're going to take someone in a squad,
04:53someone who's probably going to be part of the future squad, it made sense if he went and even
04:56if he didn't play, he would get that experience at the top level as well. Being around at European
05:01Championships in place of someone like Dunne, who is never really going to feature, was he,
05:04let's be honest? Yeah, I think long term, he's one of the players that should be
05:10really in Lee Carsley's plans. I think there's not many left-sided defenders as well, and he's
05:15quite comfortable playing it out from the back as well. So he doesn't make many mistakes.
05:19Yeah, I think he's got a huge future and Levi Colwell as well, another left-footed centre-back,
05:24England are very blessed in that area. Someone else who's had a little bit of a resurgence,
05:29or I guess it's a renaissance in a new position really, it's Dwight McNeil who's now playing
05:34what looks like a sort of a central attacking midfield role, different from when he used to
05:38play on the left. There is still a bit of rotation there with Illman and Day that the summer signing
05:42came in, but McNeil playing in that central role, we saw what he could do last weekend when he would
05:48pick the ball up just off the right side of the box, cut in and fire with his left foot from 25
05:53yards. He has that in his locker. And his second goal as well, he was found in the box in a more
05:58of a striking position. And obviously the two goals he scored were hugely important for Everton
06:03last week. He's actually created, only four players in Europe's top five leagues have created
06:08more chances than him this season. He's up there with the likes of Lemien Yamal and top players
06:12like that. I guess he has to be the man to watch for Newcastle, doesn't he?
06:17Yeah, based on current form, I think he has to be. He's getting goals, assists,
06:23seems to love shooting from distance at the moment as well. So yeah, one of the areas we
06:28kind of struggle with at times can be that attacking midfielder. I can remember last
06:33season, I think it was Morgan Gibbs-White, just players who kind of play just off the
06:38strike. It can cause us a lot of issues. So he's definitely someone we need to watch.
06:43And set-pieces as well, he takes them. And Everton were, I think, the second best performing
06:48side from set-pieces last season after Arsenal. That could be a huge issue as well for them.
06:52I know in Newcastle, they're a big side. They have big physical players who can cope with
06:57this type of thing. But Everton are very skilled at that. And the delivery from McNeil is hugely
07:03important as well for that.
07:05Yeah, I think a big battle as well probably will be Dan Byrne against Calvert-Lewin. I
07:10think I was reading up somewhere, Calvert-Lewin scored six in 13, 14 games against Newcastle.
07:17I think that's his best return against any other Premier League team. So he always seems
07:21to like, even when he's on a drought, I think he was on a long drought before he played us
07:26and he scored a penalty. But he just has a habit of always popping up against us.
07:31That's interesting. Yeah, I think when he's on song, I think he's absolutely sensational.
07:36I still think the performance he put in in the Merseyside derby against Van Dijk and
07:39Canarte last season was one of the best centre forward performances across the whole of last
07:44season. I think he was that good. And when he's on it, he's a handful for absolutely,
07:48absolutely anybody. But to throw it to Newcastle's strengths, that midfield three that we see
07:54of Guimaraes, Joe Linton, and I've gone blank here, sorry, Antonali, of course, the man
08:02who came back in after the year out. It's a brilliant midfield three on paper. And I'm
08:08looking at that and I'm comparing it to Everton's midfield, where we could see one of a few.
08:14We saw Aurel Mangala and Dua Corre play last weekend. There's also Timur Abunim on the bench,
08:20who I think has been one of Everton's best players, but he is inexperienced when it comes
08:24to the Premier League. And there's James Garner as well. It does depend on if James Garner can
08:29play right back, but we have an Idrissa Gueye as well to come back. There's a couple of options
08:33there who are going to play a two behind McNeil. But going up against that midfield three for
08:38Newcastle, that is a big area for this game because I know, I've seen it so many times,
08:44how good Newcastle's midfield three is. Yeah, I think on paper, that can be mouthwatering.
08:50The only kind of issue we've had is like, Howe's been reluctant to play the same three. So he's
08:55kind of gone with Longstaff sometimes. Willer, because Tonali is still sort of, he's just
09:00finding his trust with him, I think. So if they can get those three to gel, I think,
09:05like, obviously, we've seen what Joe Winton and Bruno can do on a regular basis. We've seen what
09:10Tonali can do for AC Milan and his first game against Willer, which seems like an eternity ago.
09:16And so, yeah, those three could be a big threat, definitely, if he can get them all on song.
09:23Yeah, the midfield battle is always a key battle. This one is very interesting,
09:29because I know that Newcastle can get goals from their midfield as well. So I think that's
09:32a huge area, and it'll be very interesting to see who Sean Dyce actually goes with.
09:37I can't really say who's nailed. The only people you can say nailed on is if he just goes for a
09:40repeat selection of Oral, Mangala and Dua Corre once again. But that isn't that. I personally
09:46don't think that's their best two in midfield. So there is some decisions to be made. We'll
09:50wait for the press conference, of course, to see what comes up on that.
09:55Just a quick one on the game we saw last year. It was 3-0 at Goodison, and it came at a time when
09:59Everton had just kind of found the momentum out of absolutely nowhere, and Newcastle seemed to
10:03just be a little bit lost. And they got a bit blown away on that day. It was very straight.
10:08Tempers were very high. The Newcastle players were very agitated. But what's interesting is
10:13the team that we saw from Everton on that day is probably going to be eight out of the eleven
10:18players we'll see at the weekend. So do you think there's any type of thing where Newcastle do
10:22struggle with Everton a little bit? It always is a tricky away game, I think,
10:27especially when they can get the crowd on side. It can get quite hostile. I imagine
10:33Gordon in particular has never really had a good time coming back to Everton. He hasn't yet
10:36produced a performance. So it will definitely be a tricky one. I think the difference between
10:42this game and last year is it was kind of the period where Everton picked up and Newcastle
10:48kind of slid down the league. So there was a lot of injury issues. I think Pope was out,
10:53Dan Byrne was out, Harvey Barnes, Nick Murphy. We barely had a bench. It was just a bench of
11:03youth players. So it'll definitely be a different game, but it's always a tough, tough place to go.
11:11Sure. With that in mind, a prediction. This one is very hard to predict.
11:18Anything come to mind for you? I think it's going to be extremely competitive and I might have to
11:23sit on the fence and call it a draw. It's going to be tight, especially without Isak and
11:31Gordon's not yet produced a performance against Everton. So it's a case of whether he can kind of
11:36put the crowds at the back of his mind and produce his best. He has looked better since
11:42reportedly signing a new deal when he played against Man City. So a lot of it will depend
11:48on how fit Bram Flavier is and how on-song Gordon is. I'm going to sneaky 2-1, but
11:55it's going to be close. I'll go 2-1 Newcastle. Yeah, I'm going to go the reverse on that and
12:01go 2-1 Everton. Just because they won last weekend, I think they might be able to pull
12:05it off again. But thank you so much for your time. It's going to be a good game of the weekend and
12:09we can't wait to see it. And after the break, we will jump into Crystal Palace versus Liverpool
12:15at Selhurst Park.
12:45It's not just a simple answer. It's a combination of a lot of things. Can you hear me clearly?
12:51Yeah, all good on this end.
12:52Yeah, so it's a combination of factors. One of them, I think, should just be that
12:58there's a lot of heightened expectations for Palace these days, especially how the season ended.
13:04But to be fair also, they've gone six games and the performances have been very low. I mean,
13:12admittedly, they lost some really interesting players. Michael Alissio, I'm sure we'll talk
13:16about him in there. But also Joachim Andersen, who I think was underrated. Joachim went to full.
13:21I mean, they've brought in a couple of players. LaRoux, Kamada, they've brought in Ismail Assaoui,
13:27who they wanted for a very long time. But all of them have had spells in the team and they've not
13:32really been able to make a substant case. So it's not necessarily just one issue just because
13:40they've lost a player, but it's a combination of things. And given that they won five of their last
13:46six games at the end of last season, most people expected them to kick on and fight for the top
13:51half of the table or possibly put up a run for Europe, but it hasn't been. And again, I think
13:56one of the problems also has been most of their key players have not been really good. So Matt
14:00Gahy had a really good Euros, but his performances, again, at Palace so far haven't been at the same
14:07standard. Tarek Michel, for me, is one of the very interesting players. Defensively, very good.
14:13Attacking-wise, there's still a lot to happen from him. We haven't seen that yet. I mean,
14:20Hughes on and off. Adam Walton, who was sensational, went to the Euros, didn't play.
14:27Looks a yard slower. Sources have said he's a bit injured, but I don't get it. If he's injured,
14:33he's best off to stay away, get full fitness and come back playing, because he doesn't look like
14:38the same player. Mateta continues to score, but that's just the only burden he has. Edin Keita
14:44is coming from Arsenal, and even though you can see there's something there about him, he hasn't
14:50settled. Trevor Chalobah is coming from Chelsea on loan. If they can get him to embed and adapt
14:58and understand how the manager works, then of course they can get back to that level. But yeah,
15:02a lot of factors that have just led to this situation.
15:06Yeah, I mean, there's so many things there. On paper, they look like a team that could have a
15:10really, really good season. But so far, we're still waiting for those pieces to fall in the
15:14right places. Elisa is obviously a huge one, but I have to talk about Adam Walton. Like you said,
15:20he looks a little bit off at the start of this season. In terms of Liverpool, he's someone that
15:27is being looked at as a potential elite signing in that deep midfield position. Manchester City,
15:32also have been linked as well. He is a player who has a huge potential. It's always interesting
15:38when these players go up against teams who they've been linked to for a potential future move.
15:43Likely to start, I imagine. Let's look at the positive in him. What are the real qualities
15:50that you think could make him an elite player? His football IQ is sensational. His use of the
15:57ball is brilliant. His use of space is very, very impressive. And he's just generally a very
16:03impressive young man. The way he carries himself. I mean, he came from Blackburn,
16:07and within three months, he was playing for England. And he took everyone by surprise.
16:12I think that that is fine when you come in and you've got the talent. But once people take notice
16:18of you, you need to go a notch higher. If you play the way you've played all your career,
16:23you wouldn't progress. As people get to know you and people pay attention to you a bit more,
16:28you need to add things to your game. You need to spend more time developing certain parts of your
16:33game. And I think that's where he is at the moment. So, it will be interesting to see if
16:37we can take on the challenge and become... Because clearly, he's very talented. And
16:43that's why when he came on, everybody was like, why did we turn down the chance? Because a lot
16:48of things scouted him. I mean, City looked at him. United looked at him. Newcastle looked at him.
16:53But Palace got him because they were willing to pay. And it looks like it's a bargain for them.
16:57So, for me, yeah, he's just... He's generally a very... And I speak to people at Palace and
17:03they tell me that he is what you get. He's quite really a very impressive young man. And
17:09they think that he will make it, not just as a Palace star, but a Premier League legend and
17:14an England star.
17:17You see him at Liverpool in the future? I know, obviously, they have a lot of players in that
17:21position. But, you know, two years down the line, maybe.
17:24I see him at every top football club. I think that with Liverpool, at the moment, everybody's
17:29just like, well, let's wait and see how the first year will go. I mean, if you've had a manager for
17:33nine years, the Jürgen Klopp was everything about the club. The club revolved around his
17:39ideas and everything. And then you bring in another manager. And impressively, he's got going.
17:44I think that most players will have a look around and see, OK, how is this going to go?
17:50Is this a manager I can stay with for a long time? And then decisions will go. But he's a
17:54quality player. And I'm sure with quality players, eventually they go to a top team.
18:01Yeah, we'll see about that one day. But one man who is in red hot form right now is Ryan
18:06Gravenberch. Look, I'm a Chelsea fan and I know Moises Caicedo has been fantastic this season.
18:12But Ryan Gravenberch has probably been the out-and-out best midfielder in the league this
18:16season. Three Man of the Matches in a row now in his last three games. It's just kind of
18:22stunning form. Just how impressive has he been?
18:26You know, sensational. I mean, I don't know. I think that he's also got an unknown factor,
18:32which is kind of good when you're flying and a lot of people are not paying attention to him.
18:37And you rightfully said everybody's talking about Moises. Not necessarily because Moises is
18:41form, but because Moises came with a really big, big, big, big price tag. Gravenberch,
18:47not the same. And I mean, at the time when he came in, it took him time to settle. But yeah,
18:52I agree with you. He's taken to Slough very well and he's playing quite really, really impressive.
18:59Yeah. And just how important is he for the other players in the team? Just because if he gives that
19:03real solidity in the middle, the likes of McAlister can be free, Slavoslavic can be free as well. But
19:08Liverpool are just really ticking. And a lot of the time, these top teams, it stems from that
19:14player in that deep midfield position. You see, the most impressive thing about
19:20Aaron Slough here is the way he's handled Liverpool's midfield. So, Liverpool's midfield
19:26and the club was the most important factors. And I would explain, they played with a three-man
19:34attack. So, they had Sadio, they had Salah and they had Firmino. That was a given. That never
19:40revolved. What revolved consistently and the club was always that midfield. So, you'd normally have
19:47Henderson, Naby Keita. I mean, it kept revolving when McAlister came. So, that was where the
19:54changes were consistently being done. And it didn't matter which combination he picked.
20:01There was always the same level of consistency. And when that midfield eventually got hired and
20:08Naby left, Henderson went to Saudi Arabia and a couple of performances dropped. Now,
20:17Gravenberg came in and, to be fair, they wanted to sign Moises Caicedo. They wanted to sign
20:23Romu Lavia. And in the end, they all decided to go to Chelsea. And then they got Gravenberg and
20:28everybody was like, oh, he's not really the standard. Then they got Sabo Sly and people
20:32were like, well, yeah, he's good, but he's not that really good. But this season has proven that
20:37they are settling well and he's quite really, really an integral part. So, for me, it's not
20:43necessarily just the way he's played. It's the way he's been able to evolve and become such an
20:51integral part of a midfield that eventually carries a massive team at Liverpool. That's what's made
20:56him a threat. And you're right. I think he's going to be really massive if Liverpool are
21:02going to be successful this season.
21:05Yeah, well said. Just looking quickly on last season's game, it was a 12.30
21:09early kickoff at Selhurst Park. It was a close game that Palace led for a very long time before
21:14they got a man sent off and Liverpool went on and snatched it late. The turnaround time is
21:19just a couple of days from Wednesday to Saturday afternoon. Palace have had the week off. Could
21:24we be seeing another potential close game here just because of all those factors?
21:28Hey, Palace are still without a win. That's a big deal. When Palace played you, they were really,
21:34well, they were struggling at that time. But when they played you at Anfield, they beat you
21:38at Anfield. Palace were the first team to actually beat Liverpool and club at Anfield in a very long
21:44stretch. It's flipped now. Liverpool have hit from and Palace have struggled. But if there's
21:52any respite, Palace were really good against United and they cannot really come up against
21:57a big team. When they played against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, they were also quite really good.
22:01So, that should give us an insight that they will be ready for the game against Liverpool.
22:07Obviously, Liverpool will still be favourites for this one, given the form. I mean,
22:12they had that setback against Northern Forest, but apart from that, they've been spotless. So,
22:17I would tend to say Liverpool could easily walk this, but this is football and Palace
22:23have shown in the last few games that they're always a tough nut to crack for Liverpool.
22:30The form's been brilliant. Have you got any early team news we can look at right now?
22:35What's the likely line-up we're looking to see with that 3-4-3 formation, I guess, again?
22:41Not really. I think the manager will speak tomorrow. There's a big injury,
22:45and I'm sure it's been going on for a while. Chiqui Diokori still has a cast on his foot,
22:51so that really means he might not be able to play. The team, essentially, will pick it. So,
22:58I mean, Gueye would be at the back and Richards is having injury issues. We don't know if he'll
23:03be back in time or not. Then, Lemar, who's been playing as a central defender, but mostly he's
23:09a midfielder. It'll be interesting to see if they can get Trevor Chalhova up to speed and
23:13Trevor could start. That means they could play Lemar in midfield, and then the combinations are
23:18either if Lemar is straight, Adam Walton, and then Hughes in midfield. At the top, it's like
23:24at the tip of the three, Eberechi Eze, who, again, another underperforming player. Eze is sensational
23:30when he gets going, and if Palace are going to succeed, Eze is going to be really key to them.
23:35Then, at the top, Mateta and Edin Ketia. Yeah, and possibly Ismail Assaf. So, it really does
23:43depend on the fitness of the team going into the game, but you should expect the usual line-up.
23:53A quick score prediction for yourself?
23:56Ah, that's it. I never really make these things clear.
24:002-1 Liverpool, something like this, yeah.
24:03Yeah, I think I'll have to grieve you there. Thank you so much for your time,
24:06and that caps off our Merseyside preview for the weekend,
24:09and we'll see how both sides get on with the review on Monday.