VIEW FROM THE BLUE

Go for the Jugular

It's derby time again, the Anfield derby to be precise, a game that, incredibly, we haven't won since 1999.

Of course, this match-up against the enemy from across Stanley Park has a different look to those of recent years. For a start, both sides will kick off the game sitting in the bottom half of the table ? Blue above Red, albeit on goal difference ? and I'm not sure how far you have to go back the last time that was the case.

It also marks Liverpool's first home game with Kenny Dalglish back at the helm after the unceremonious booting of Roy Hodgson, who barely had time to imprint his backside in the Anfield hotseat before being shunted on to his next managerial assignment with the Reds some way off their target of a return to Champions League football.

So you'd expect some extra charge behind the home fans as they welcome back their "hero", the one that walked out on them almost 20 years ago after one of the greatest derbies every played, the 4-4 FA Cup draw at Goodison in February 1991.

But they'll also be without their Talisman, Steven Gerrard, who serves the second match of a three-game suspension and with Dogleash having already lost twice in his second stint as their manager ? to Manchester United in the Cup and Blackpool in the league midweek ? there will be plenty of Liverpool anxiety on which to feed.

Much has been made of David Moyes's conservative approach when it comes to playing the "Sky Four" ? although how relevant that term still is now that Spurs and Manchester City have joined the league of media darlings and Liverpool have fallen out of the pantheon of English footballing greatness is open to question ? and though he rejects the idea that a lack of adventure lies behind his failure to win a match at Anfield in nine years as Everton manager, there have been occasions when the lone striker formation and a confusing lack of spirit have condemned his side to unnecessary derby defeat... or defeat has been avoided thanks to Tim Cahill, Moyes's own Talisman.

But with Cahill absent at the Asia Cup, Everton have come to life under a two-striker system, the one for which many supporters (myself included) have been clamouring for most of the season, seen off Tottenham with a rousing 2-1 win at Goodison and done what top flight times should do against lower-division opposition in thumping Scunthorpe United 5-1 in the FA Cup 3rd Round last weekend.

It took Louis Saha just a few minutes in both games to register his appreciation for the new-found freedom with sweetly-taken goals that offer hope that he now has the spark to reignite his goalscoring form. And somewhere around the quarter hour mark against Tottenham, Mikel Arteta suddenly came to life. It was as if he had been awakened from a slumber by the touch of some unseen magic ? a player who had looked lethargic, disinterested and directionless almost all season seemed to rediscover his joi de vivre and began to show some of the form that made him a fan favourite before his long-term layoff temporarily derailed his career.

Now there was movement where before there had been little, pace up front where before there had been none, and the goals started coming. Attack as the best form of defence, all that... all because Moyes finally did what many of his peers did a long time ago and that is adopt a dual-striker solution. Forced into it he may have been by Cahill's absence ? or maybe his plea for fans to keep the faith was indicative that supporter concerns were leaching through to the manager ? but Moyes's team has been exciting to watch over the last two matches.

Now we just have to hope that he doesn't revert to type this Sunday because, for me, we need to go out at there and just go for it because this is a Liverpool side that we can pin against the ropes with the right approach. Play Saha and Jermaine Beckford together from the start, let Seamus Coleman loose on their left flank and Steven Pienaar (if he plays) and Leightin Baines down their right, let Arteta and Fellaini control the midfield and let John Heitinga and Sylvain Distin keep it tight at the back.

Their Scouse axis of Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will be missing and with their recent frailties in mind, an early onslaught, an early breakthrough and sustained pressure could set them reeling and land Moyes with his first League double over Liverpool.

Kevin Keegan returned to Newcastle as the returning hero a few seasons back and left a few months later having utterly failed to fulfil the Messianic turnaround he promised. Nothing would be sweeter for Evertonians who have been forced to live in the shadow of Liverpool for so long because of a chronic inequality in financial resources than to see "King Kenny" go the same way as "King Kev," back to the footballing wilderness. Moyes's Everton can help him get there, but they have to have the right mindset and the belief that right now, despite their parity in Premier League points, Everton are the better team.

Come on, you Blues!

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