Liverpool will have to wait and see when their trip to Goodison Park will be rearranged, but the postponement has both positive and negative implications for Arne Slot‘s side.
The impact of Storm Darragh and the safety concerns of 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts ensured the trip to Goodison Park was postponed on Saturday.
It was due to kickoff at 12.30pm but will now be expected to be rearranged on a midweek evening later in the season.
Inevitably, there are several pros and cons to the game being cancelled…
PRO – Time to get players back
Liverpool were ready to head to Goodison without Alisson, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley, Kostas Tsimikas, Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota due to injury, plus Alexis Mac Allister (suspended).
There is no guarantee the Reds will not be facing injury woes when the teams meet at Goodison, but they are at least now afforded the chance for their squad to be in better shape.
The extended break between games will also do Slot’s squad no harm having looked increasingly fatigued amid the hectic schedule.
CON – Psychological battle
At the start of matchweek 15, Liverpool held a seven-point lead over Chelsea and Arsenal but by their next game, that margin could be cut to four.
Suddenly, the conversation starts changing even in the knowledge that Liverpool have an extra game to play later down the line – it will encourage their rivals and alter perception.
Virgil van Dijk and Co. have been insistent that they are not reading into their early lead, but they will not be immune to the narrative and pressure changing.
It’s often better to have points on the board than games in hand.
PRO – No Dycheball in the wind
Gusty winds and Sean Dyche with the long ball, no thank you.
If this game could have safely gone ahead, the wind would still have wreaked havoc and Caoimhin Kelleher would have been put under all sorts of unwanted pressure with constant crosses.
The decision to call it off certainly favoured Liverpool.
CON – Moving fixture congestion to later in season
While it is an obvious positive that Liverpool get extra rest on the weekend the game should have been played, it could yet wreak havoc if scheduled for another busy part of the campaign.
We saw last season how the team ran out of steam, falling victim to injuries and having a small squad incapable of sustaining title-fighting form until the end of May.
Our perception of this postponement could certainly be swayed by when the rescheduled game falls!
PRO – Flexibility for squad selection
There are six days between the trips to Newcastle and Girona, and then a further four days until Liverpool are back in Premier League action against Fulham at Anfield.
The expectation before this postponement was that Slot could rotate his XI in the Champions League clash, and now the boss has greater flexibility when he sits down and plans out the weeks ahead.
Key players nearing the red zone for minutes have been given a valuable reset and some could even see themselves with a week between starts – not a common occurrence at this time of the year.
CON – Atmosphere flipped on its head
A lunchtime kickoff is starkly different to an evening start when it comes to atmosphere, especially when you consider it will be the final derby at Goodison Park.
Everton will be fired up for the last one under the lights, and Liverpool’s recent history at the ground only underlines how difficult of a trip it is for them.
Since Jurgen Klopp‘s first win at the ground in 2016, the Reds have won just once in the visits since.
On the flip side, it would be quite the setting for Liverpool to bid farewell with three points!
