Brendan Rodgers believes a victory for Liverpool over Everton tonight would go a long way to ensuring the Reds finish above their Merseyside rivals this season.
Everton have claimed local bragging rights at the end of the season for the last two years but Liverpool have a one-point advantage heading into the match at Anfield.
“A win would be a big psychological boost because it means they have then got to have a couple of results better than us,” said Rodgers. “As the games tick away, that can be difficult to attain.
“It’s going to be a tough game between two teams that have been up there. We’ve been in that top four more or less all of the season. We aim to stay there and, in order to do that, you’ve got to win as many of your home games as possible.
“This year, we have been brilliant — we’ve won nine out of the 11, only losing one and drawing one. We aim to make that 10 tonight.”
To achieve that, Rodgers knows Liverpool need to sort out their defence.
The Reds conceded just four goals in their first six Premier League matches of the season but have let in 10 in their last six.
Injuries to defenders including Glen Johnson (left), Daniel Agger, Jon Flanagan, Mamadou Sakho and Jose Enrique have been part of the problem but there have also been a number of costly individual errors.
Rodgers said: “We are trying to be as defensively solid as possible, which is important. We know we can score goals. We [must try] to cut out individual mistakes, which haven’t helped us in some of these games.”
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard will not read too much into the result as both sides will still have 15 League games to play after tonight.
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“We’ll go out to win it but I don’t think it’s must-win per se. Victory would allow us to leapfrog them and we can control what happens a bit more. It’s still close [for fourth] between us and Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester United who will come into the mix. There’s a way to go still.”
