Monday 19 December 2016 19:54, UK
Adam Lallana's brilliant form could make the difference for Liverpool against Everton on Mersey Monday, says Jamie Redknapp.
I've enjoyed watching Adam Lallana playing so well and scoring goals for Liverpool. He's one of the best players in the Premier League right now, and he's a great lad who deserves everything he gets.
The big difference for him this season has been his confidence. He has got a manager in Jurgen Klopp who really believes in him and insists that he gets into those areas to make and score goals.
His overall game has not changed that much from last season, but scoring goals can make all the difference when you're a player. You might not be playing well, but sometimes you'll score a goal and suddenly everyone is talking about you. It can boost you. That's what's happened with Adam.
I think he will be a key man at Goodison Park on Monday. When you're a Liverpool player you always, always look out for the Everton fixture. It's one of the games you want to win the most, and sometimes you need a little flash of quality from a player like Lallana.
There's no doubt Liverpool miss a player of Philippe Coutinho's quality, but Lallana has really stepped up and Divock Origi has also impressed me with five goals in his last five games.
I was interested to see what Klopp would do without Coutinho. He could have gone a different way, but instead he told Origi, 'You go out there and cause some havoc'. It shows his faith in the young man, and it has been rewarded.
Liverpool go into the game after a great win over Middlesbrough, but Everton have found some form themselves. If they had lost to Arsenal this would have been one of those games the players and fans dread, but they can take some real encouragement from that performance.
It wasn't just how they played with the ball, it was that after the first 20 minutes of being pretty passive, they started to get after Arsenal and be aggressive. That's something I've not seen enough of from them, and Romelu Lukaku needs to lead the way on Monday.
When he is on form he is fantastic, but can he affect big games? Can he go and do the business in a derby? There's a lot of talk that players should watch guys like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for inspiration, but he should go and look at how Duncan Ferguson played in these fixtures.
He put himself about and that's why Evertonians loved him. He moved into areas where he could take on the centre-backs and he would strike fear into Liverpool's back four.
That's what Lukaku has got to do. If Everton are going to win this game, he's got to bully them. They've got a goalkeeper in Simon Mignolet who's not had a lot of game time and a defence which can be a little shaky, so I will be fascinated to see how Lukaku gets on.
The other Everton player who needs to have a big game is Idrissa Gueye. He has been a great signing for them but he's got a massive role to play on Monday. When I think back to the Merseyside derbies I played in, they were often won in the midfield areas.
He's got to stamp his authority on that Liverpool midfield. He can't let the likes of Lallana and Roberto Firmino start picking the ball up and taking their time to pass it around. Everton have got to get in Liverpool's faces like they did against Arsenal.
There are so many interesting battles in this game, but I think Liverpool will edge it. Everton have a lot of quality when they turn it on, but they have been a strange, inconsistent side this year. With Lallana in the form he's in, I can see the Reds getting the points.
