If a penalty is scored in this match Paddy Power will refund all losing first goalscorer, last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match
The Merseyside derby on Sunday sees Everton host Liverpool at Goodison Park while boasting a six-point lead over their visitors in the Premier League table.
The Toffees have made an unusually positive start to the campaign, losing just once in eight league games.
David Moyes’ team have had the advantage of a full week to prepare for this fixture while Liverpool had Europa League commitments and that could also be a factor in favour of the home side.
Everton are 13/8 (2.62) to extend their lead over their city rivals.
But Brendan Rodgers’ side have had an encouraging sequence of results – keeping three consecutive clean sheets including home wins over Reading and Anzhi.
Liverpool are 17/10 (2.70) to truly herald the bright new Rodgers era with a derby win.
The draw is available at 9/4 (3.25).
In the goalscorer markets, Luis Suarez is a 13/2 (7.50) shot to silence the majority of Goodison Park with the opening goal.
For the home side, Kevin Mirallas is available at an industry-best price of 17/2 (9.50) but the favourite to score first is Everton’s Croatian forward Nikica Jelavic.
The January arrival is a 6/1 (7.00) pick to find the first goal of the afternoon.
That’s good value given that the 27-year-old broke the deadlock between these two sides the last time they met, in the FA Cup semi final.
Jelavic also has 15 goals in 20 starts for the Toffees with 12 of those efforts coming in the first half of games. Backing him is the value option here.
But for the pick of the bets, go under 2.5 goals in this one. Moyes may have opted for a more expansive approach of late but he will set his team up to avoid defeat in the derby.
And with Rodgers’ side coming into this one having kept those three consecutive clean sheets this is a solid bet.
Under 2.5 goals would have paid out in seven of the last nine Premier League meetings between these sides and yet is available at 5/6 (1.83) .
If a penalty is scored in this match Paddy Power will refund all losing first goalscorer, last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match
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Adam Bate is a professional freelance journalist who specialises in football and betting. He is editor of GhostGoal which can be found here – you can also follow Adam on 