EVERTON took a massive stride towards Premier League safety at the weekend and their fans are now dreaming of capping a great week by blowing a hole in the title dreams of rivals Liverpool.
Both teams head into the derby off the back of important victories on Sunday, with the Toffees controversially defeating drop rivals Nottingham Forest before the Reds beat Fulham to move level on points with Arsenal at the top.
Slips Tips thought that Goodison battle would be fiery and was proved correct, with six cards flashed and Forest losing the plot over VAR decisions after having three strong penalty appeals turned down.
It was Everton who landed the telling blows and the victory was massive as it moved them five points clear of the drop zone with just five games to go.
They may just need one more victory to stay up and those on the blue half of Merseyside would love for it to come in the derby.
Liverpool were looking a bit vulnerable after dropping points to Manchester United and Crystal Palace before crashing out of the Europa League to Atalanta last week.
But they dug deep on Sunday to claim a comfortable 3-1 victory at Craven Cottage as a goals bet landed for me. Only goal difference is keeping Jurgen Klopp's men off the summit but with Manchester City having a game in hand the advantage is still with Pep Guardiola's men.
Liverpool might need five wins from five to have any hope of claiming the Premier League crown in Klopp's final season so they can't afford a slip up across the city.
How the bookies view it: Everton the rank outsiders
Despite that morale-boosting weekend win, the bookies make Everton outsiders in the derby at a huge 6/1 with SkyBet. Liverpool's best price is just 10/21 at VBet and even the draw is pretty big at 4/1 with William Hill.
Recent head to head: Toffees out to end the derby curse
There hasn't been much to cheer in this fixture for the blue half of the city, with Everton winning just one of the last 29 derbies. That victory came at Anfield three years ago and you need to go all the way back to 2010 for Everton's last Goodison win over their rivals.
Players to watch: Refreshed Salah could make the difference
Sean Dyche's strikers continue to misfire so it's probably better backing a midfielder for an Everton goal. Abdoulaye Doucoure has come up with some important strikes in the last couple of seasons and is 6/1 at Unibet for anytime scorer. He's also a tempting 6/4 at Bet365 just to have a shot on target.
Klopp took a gamble by leaving Mo Salah on the bench at Craven Cottage but it paid off and the winger will now be fresh for the derby. The Egyptian is evens at Paddy Power for anytime scorer while Bet365 price him at 6/5 to have over 1.5 shots on target.
Predicted line-ups
Klopp made a lot of changes at Fulham and I'd expect him to restore most of his big hitters to the starting line-up. Everton are set to be without striker Beto after he picked up a head injury at the weekend.
Everton: Pickford; Young, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Gueye, Onana, Gomes; Doucoure, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.
Chelsea: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; MacAllister, Endo, Szoboszlai; Salah, Nunez, Diaz.
Anything else catch the eye? Cards and fouls always a good derby option
Liverpool's defence continues to look vulnerable and they haven't kept a clean sheet in their last 11 matches. That suggests we should see goals at both ends in this one and combining BTTS with over 2.5 goals pays evens with Bet365.
Derbies are always fiercely contested and it promises to be a busy night for the referee. Everton veteran Ashley Young was incredibly lucky to survive a couple of penalty appeals on Sunday and looks good value for a card at 9/4 with Bet365. The same firm are also offering 11/10 on over 5.5 cards.
Andy Robertson always gets stuck in and I like the 3/1 at Paddy Power for the Liverpool left-back to commit over 1.5 fouls.
This English Premier League match between Everton and Liverpool will be played on Apr 24, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Everton vs Liverpool prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
Liverpool to win and both teams to score @ 13/8 with Paddy Power
Ashley Young to commit a foul on Luis Diaz @ 4/5 with Paddy Power
Virgil van Dijk 1+ header on target @ 3/1 with Paddy Power